By Max Lederman

No matter what sport, the most delicious win for any NU team is to beat cross-town rival Boston University. It’s about Bean Town pride, and bragging rights, and for the Northeastern men’s Basketball team, Saturday’s thrilling 72-69 road win over the BU Terriers (11-7, 6-1 America East) was for status in the America East.

The Huskies (9-10, 2-4 America East) handed the top ranked team in the America East their first conference loss of the season, in “come from behind” fashion. NU trailed by as much as 16 points mid way through the second half before pulling off a monumental comeback, capped off by a Jose Juan Barea three pointer with 35 seconds left in the game. Barea’s only three of the game gave the Huskies the lead for good, and sealed the deal on their second conference win of the season.

“I think we all knew what was at stake here,” said Northeastern head coach Ron Everhart. “This was our chance to beat the number one team in the conference, and start to claw our way back up the standings,” the coach added. Northeastern trailed the Terriers 46-30 with 16:30 remaining in the game, but the Huskies went on a 35-19 run during the last 13:48 of the game to pull off the upset. Barea led the team in scoring with 18 points while Sylbrin Robinson pulled down 10 boards to go along with his 16 points, and Javorie Wilson dropped 14 to aid the Huskies in the win.

The turning point of the game came with 10:50 to go in the second half, when Aaron Davis and Robinson had back-to-back blocks on what looked like an easy terrier basket, starting a 5:12 stretch in which the Huskies held BU scoreless.

“I have been coaching for 17 years, and that was the most effort I have ever seen by two guys on one single play,” said Everhart. “That really turned the game around for us.” After playing a sloppy first half, shooting just 40 percent from the field, Northeastern went into the break trailing by 10, 38-28. The Huskies stayed in this game with hard-nosed defense and 83.2 percent free throw shooting. Barea didn’t miss a free throw all game, shooting 7-7 from the line.

“Northeastern deserved a lot of credit,” said disgruntled Terrier head coach Dennis Wolff after his team’s first conference loss of the season. “At no point did they stop making plays.”

Last Wednesday, the Huskies were a three pointer away from another come from behind victory against Stony Brook, when Adam Drain’s last second trifecta came up just short, handing NU their fourth conference loss of the season with a final score of 72-67. The Huskies battled back from a 17-point second half deficit, only to have their hopes clank off the rim with just a few seconds remaining at The Stony Brook sports complex.

Javorie Wilson led the Husky attack with a game high 24 points, while Sylbrin Robinson added 16 points and nine boards.

“I thought we played rather poorly at Stony Brook,” Everhart said of his team’s loss. The sky seems to be the limit for these young Dawgs, but that’s just what they are, young. Until they can get some chemistry working on the court, and on a consistent basis, they will continue to have as many lows, as they do highs.

“We have nine new guys this year,” Everhart said, “that coupled with the fact that we have been struggling to keep guys healthy has really hurt our chemistry on the court.”

After impressive wins against BU and BC with such an inexperienced team, it appears that this team will only get better. The Huskies return home Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they play Binghamton.