The Northeastern Huskies men’s basketball team (9-5, 1-0 CAA) beat the University of Delaware Blue Hens (7-7, 0-1 CAA) 80-77 in the first conference game of the season Jan. 2.
The Huskies dominated the first half out, rebounding the Blue Hens 30 to 11. Capitalizing on these offensive rebounds contributed to Northeastern’s success and the 44 points the team acquired in the first half.
The Huskies led the game early on. Three minutes in, junior guard Rashad King made two successful free throws after being fouled by freshman guard Izaiah Pasha, bringing the score to 10-4.
King earned the game and his career high in points at 27, with Delaware’s senior forward John Camden trailing at 21. King has been valuable to the Huskies, rounding nine blocks, 18 steals and averaging 17.6 points per game so far this season.
Northeastern defense was strong guarding the perimeter, with the Blue Hens only notching six three pointers of their 16 attempts.
Over the course of the first half, Delaware was able to regain control in its shooting, bringing itself back in the game with a score of 34 at the end of the half.
The Huskies came back with fire after halftime, bringing the scoreboard to 50-35 two minutes into the second half. But the momentum slowed down; Northeastern only scored six points in the following five minutes.
As the Huskies stuttered, the Blue Hens came back with back-to-back three-pointers by graduate student guard Erik Timko and Pasha. This cut Northeastern’s lead to 53-45 with 14 minutes left.
The Huskies struggled to keep their lead as Delaware’s sophomore guard Trent Middleton Jr. closed the gap further to 63-57 with his driving layup.
Sophomore guard JB Frankel quickly responded as he scored a layup followed by a three-pointer. Frankel earned his career high in points per game with 13 points.
Timko notched another three-pointer, which brought the scoreboard to 68-64. King was fouled in the next possession, where he secured both free throws, elevating the Huskies to 70-64 with six minutes left in the game. King made 11 of his 12 free throws throughout the game, giving the Huskies a necessary boost.
The Blue Hens were able to claw their way to a 76-75 lead with two layups by senior guard Niels Lane with two minutes left in the game.
Pasha made his first of his two free throws after being fouled by junior center Collin Metcalf. The basket tied the game at 76.
Twenty seconds later, Frankel fouled Camden, who sank his second free throw after missing his first.
Frankel then passed the ball to King, who drew a foul on Pasha, where King added the two points to the score, giving the Huskies their lead back at 78-77.
Off one of King’s attempted layups, Northeastern contested that Metcalf was the last to touch the ball before it went out of bounds. After reviewing the footage, the referees reversed their call, putting Northeastern back under its own basket.
With less than a minute to go, Frankel attempted to lob the ball to junior guard Masai Troutman near the half line, but he was not able to keep the ball on the Huskies’ side of play, giving the ball to the Blue Hens with 10 seconds in the game.
Lane attempted to drive to the basket, but junior forward Youri Fritz denied the layup and Troutman won the 50/50 ball, giving Northeastern possession with one second left under Delaware’s basket.
On the inbound, Middleton Jr. fouled King, solidifying the lead for the Huskies. King was brought to the line where he made both shots, ending the game 80-77.The Huskies remain home Jan. 4 against Hofstra University Pride (8-6, 0-1 CAA) at 12 p.m.
