By Andrew Parente

Fresh off a thrilling win against Providence, the men’s basketball team continued to build momentum with a 61-49 win over Holy Cross Saturday night at Matthews Arena.

Junior guard and captain Matt Janning led all scorers with 27 points and junior center Nkem Ojougboh added 12.

The Huskies gained revenge after dropping a 61-47 decision to the Crusaders in Worcester in February.

“Holy Cross is such a well coached team, they make you earn everything on the court,” said head coach Bill Coen. “Every time you play against Holy Cross you learn something about yourself and tonight I thought we met the challenge both physically and mentally.”

Northeastern erased two ghosts with the back-to-back wins, as it had not defeated Providence since 1927 nor Holy Cross since 1989.

“It feels really good, just looking at the history of not beating these teams in a while,” Janning said. “Coming away with nice wins we’ve played very well in both of them so far and it’s a token to our work ethic.”

NU started strong out of the gate, scoring the first 14 points of the contest. Ojougboh got it started off with an alley-oop pass from sophomore guard Chaisson Allen, who tallied five assists on the night.

Janning and senior forward Eugene Spates each added five points during the run and Ojougboh added another two. Holy Cross was finally able to break through at the 12:51 mark on a three-point play from forward Andrew Keister.

“We executed both offensively and defensively very well early in the game,” Coen said. “Then Holy Cross settled in and they did a great job on the back boards and were able to generate some extra points on offensive rebounds. That early start really helped us kind of settle down and get control of the game.”

After another dunk from Ojougboh, the Huskies held a 23-9 advantage before the Crusaders went on a 12-1 run and got the game within three with 5:59 remaining in the half after a three-pointer from guard Andrew Beinert.

However, the Huskies picked up their defensive effort and started converting offensively as they upped their lead toward the end of the half.

Four straight points from Janning including one off a fast break and another tough baseline shot extended the Huskies’ lead as the half ended with NU leading 33-25.

“You have to kill a run somehow,” Janning said. “Those baskets fell and we started to pick it up from there and our defensive intensity was good almost all night.”

Janning, who ran his double-digit scoring streak to 23 games, continued to pick up his scoring effort in the second half while the defense was able to hold Holy Cross to poor shots.

The captain opened the half with a trey and after two Holy Cross free throws, junior forward Manny Adako rattled off seven straight points to increase the lead 43-31 with 15 minutes to play.

“Manny is very important to our team,” Coen said. “All good teams need a low post-presence and he is the best we have at that spot. When he scores it settles us down because you can’t live and die by the jump shot and you really have to get something going down around the rim.”

The teams then exchanged baskets for a better part of the half as the Huskies defense continued to be strong and never allowed Holy Cross to make another significant threat to the lead.

Northeastern’s final eight points of the game came off free throws, where they went 17 of 24 for the game. Holy Cross went 13 of 18 from the line but hurt themselves by turning the ball over 21 times. The 21 turnovers led to 21 Husky points.

NU shot 46.3 percent from the floor, including 6-of-12 from behind the arc. The defense held Holy Cross to just 36.2 percent and just 2-of-13 from three-point land.

The Huskies (3-1) stay home to face cross-town rival Boston University Tuesday at 8 p.m. The game is part of an NU-BU doubleheader with the women’s game tipping at 5 p.m.

Northeastern has not lost to BU in two meetings since leaving America East and joining the CAA in 2005.