Northeastern men’s basketball (10-8, 2-3 CAA) took a tough loss to the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks (13-5, 3-2 CAA), or UNCW, 72-80 on the road in Wilmington Jan. 16.
After tying up their conference record against Stony Brook Jan. 11, the Huskies slipped and ended up tipping the record again with an added loss.
Northeastern started off strong, winning the tipoff and marking the score 11-3 in the first five minutes.
The Seahawks began to push back as they brought the score closer to the Huskies. However, as Northeastern attempted to stay ahead, notching driving layups and sniping their three-pointers, the Huskies were unable to keep UNCW out of the paint.
Junior guard LA Pratt kept Northeastern in the game the first half, giving the Huskies 20 of their 36 points, making eight of his 11 field goals and four of his six three-pointers.
After Pratt’s dunk right under the six minute mark of the first half, the Seahawks started to outwork the Huskies. Graduate student forward Sean Moore collected a three and junior forward Harlan Obioha made a second-chance layup with four minutes left in the half.
After junior guard Masai Troutman’s two successful free throws, Obioha made another second-chance layup, putting 34-30 on the board with three minutes left in the half.
Northeastern once again tried to solidify its lead with junior guard Harold Woods, snatching a layup, but the Seahawks were hungry to tie the score.
Donovan Newby, a graduate student guard, made a jumper and 30 seconds later, junior guard Noah Ross made a layup, tightening the score to 36-34 with under two minutes left in the first half.
On Northeastern’s possession, an unsuccessful pass by junior guard Rashad King gave Newby a chance to steal, which he took. He passed the ball to graduate student guard Joshua Corbin who notched his three-pointer, giving UNCW the lead for the first time of the game.
With their energy deflated, the Huskies began making more mistakes. Pratt caused another turnover, giving the ball to Obioha. Off a missed layup, Moore snatched the rebound and made the layup with three seconds left in the half. The half ended in the Seahawks’ favor 36-39.
The Seahawks came out with a fire under them in the second half, with graduate guard Bo Montgomery scoring on a driving layup in the first 15 seconds.
This basket was a wakeup call for the Huskies as they managed to battle it out to even the score at 43 only two minutes into the second half.
After multiple missed shots and turnovers by both teams, Pratt grabbed a fast break layup, putting the Huskies back on top with 17 minutes left in the game.
This boosted Northeastern’s confidence as King snatched a defensive rebound and took the fast break himself, collecting another basket for the team.
UNCW quickly bounced back as junior guard Nolan Hodge made his field goal in the next possession, bringing the score 47-45.
The Seahawks kept sneaking up to the Huskies but weren’t able to tie the score. However, with under 12 minutes left, Obioha snatched a basket, making a one-point difference between the teams.
Less than a minute later, Montgomery rebounded his own shot and fired another that sank, putting the Seahawks back on top.
The Huskies tried to recreate the energy that they had earlier in the game, but the Seahawks put a 10-point difference between them.
After two three-pointer sinks by Frankel, Northeastern managed to pressure the score to 61-66. King earned two consecutive layups off unsuccessful passes between UNCW players, putting Northeastern right back under the Seahawks 65-68 with five minutes left.
With two minutes left and score 70-74, Newby widened the lead with his three-pointer, bringing the Seahawks to 77.
The Huskies were unable to catch up as the clock expired, handing the win to UNCW at 72-80.
The Huskies will take on the College of Charleston Cougars (14-4, 4-1 CAA) Jan. 18 at 5 p.m.
