By Max Lederman
The men’s basketball team got just what the doctor ordered last weekend: a home game against a weak New Hampshire team.
“We needed to win,” said freshman guard Jose Juan Barea. “We need to keep winning,” he added. They not only beat New Hampshire (3-13, 1-4 America East), they took them to the house 81-58, and the game wasn’t even that close.
The Huskies (8-9, 1-3 AE) came into the game having lost their first three conference games of the young season.
The Wildcats didn’t have anybody that could contain the America East’s leading rebounder, Sylbrin Robinson. Robinson’s monster day of 20 points and a career-high 16 boards, five of which came on the offensive end of the court, gave him his sixth double-double of the season.
“Sylbrin is a great player, and he deserves the national attention he is getting,” said NU head coach Ron Everhart when asked about Robinson’s name being mentioned by ESPN’s Andy Katz on College Hoops Tonight.
Javorie Wilson netted 15 points for the Huskies, while Barea had 14, leaving him just 10 away from 300 for the season. If Barea can muster 10 points or more at Stony Brook on Wednesday, he will tie former Husky Pete Harris as the fastest player to reach the scoring mark, doing so in his 18th contest.
The game was close through much of the first half, with NU trailing by two with 5:18 left. Then someone let the Dogs out and they busted the game open with a 13-2 run to give them a nine-point lead heading into the locker room.
Remember that nine point lead? The Huskies more than doubled it by starting the second half on a 12-2 run that took out any air that was left in the Wildcats tires.
The game was filled with slams, jams, behind the back passes and excellent ball movement by a young Northeastern team that at times looks good enough to win the conference and make a trip to the NCAA tournament in March. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, the team is still very young and has a lot of improving to do before they can challenge for the America East title.
Last Wednesday, during their first conference home game of the season, the Huskies were pounded by Maine. Maine shot an unreal 14-20 from downtown on their way to a 90-76 win over NU. Sylbrin Robinson led the Huskies with 18 points while Wilson added 15 and Barea put up 14 in the losing effort. The loss was the Huskies third in a row, and their third conference loss of the season. Maine out rebounded NU 37-30 in the game and shot 56.3 percent from the field compared to the Huskies 41.8 percent.
Northeastern travels to Stony Brook on Wednesday to face off against the Seawolves at 7 p.m.
