The Northeastern men’s basketball team (15-12, 7-7 CAA) beat the Stony Brook Seawolves (6-21, 2-12 CAA) 71-60 at Matthews Arena Feb. 15, bringing their conference record to .500.
Junior guard Rashad King was the top scorer of the game and tied for most rebounds for the Huskies with 25 points and eight rebounds, and junior guard Harold Woods had 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard JB Frankel was on fire as well, hitting four three-pointers.
Although the beginning of the first half had plenty of back-and-forth action, the Huskies were dominant towards the end.
Northeastern won the tip to start off the game and quickly went up 5-0 after a three-pointer by King and a layup from Woods. The Seawolves were quick to fight back, tying the game up after a steal and slam dunk from graduate student guard Sabry Philip and a three-pointer from senior guard and forward Andre Snoddy.
Northeastern pulled ahead by one after a made free throw by Woods, but Stony Brook came back with two consecutive shots in the paint to go up 9-6.
With just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half, the tide began to shift. Northeastern went on a scoring streak composed of a jumper by King, a three-pointer from Frankel and a steal and slam dunk by King to put the Huskies up 13-9.
The Seawolves managed to hit a three-pointer just before a media timeout to cut the Huskies’ lead down to 13-12, but the Huskies were not going to be outplayed. Northeastern had a putback, steal and layup before Stony Brook called another timeout.
Both teams exchanged four points each before a powerful layup by King through contact and a transition layup off a steal for Woods put the team up to 25-16 with 7 minutes remaining in the half.
After two and a half minutes of no scoring for either team, Stony Brook broke the scoreless streak with a three-pointer. Unfortunately for the Seawolves, Northeastern fired back with a three-pointer to stay ahead 28-19 with just over four minutes remaining. Northeastern followed up the shot with an and-1.
With just over three minutes remaining, Stony Brook added a layup before Northeastern went on a tear. With back-to-back-to-back three-pointers, the Huskies increased their lead to 39-21. The final points of the half came off a putback layup for the Seawolves, leaving the Huskies up 39-23.
The second half kicked off with graduate student guard Alexander Nwagha being sent to the line, but both shots were missed, allowing the Seawolves a chance to cut down the Huskies’ lead to 39-26.
Northeastern got the next points of the game off a layup at the shot clock buzzer, a three-pointer by King and a foul shot, increasing their lead to 45-26. Both teams exchanged baskets before a transition three-pointer off a steal for Northeastern’s Frankel, forcing Stony Brook to use a timeout with just over 15-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Back-to-back layups for Stony Brook were answered with another three-pointer for Northeastern before a timeout. After the break, the Seawolves sunk a layup, but it was answered with two three-pointers for the Huskies, putting them up 61-32 with 12 minutes remaining.
The Seawolves went on a run of their own, scoring two three-pointers and a jumper to cut the Huskies’ lead to 61-40. The teams continued shooting back-and-forth until with just under six minutes remaining, Stony Brook went on a seven-point run. Both teams went shot for shot until with under a minute left, the Seawolves tacked on an and-1 and a layup to bring the final score to 71-60. Despite their lead slipping, the Huskies comfortably held on to the win, giving the team its 15th victory of the season. The Huskies’ next matchup is against the College of Charleston Cougars (20-7, 10-4 CAA) Feb. 20 at Matthews Arena.
