By Andrew Parente
CAMBRIDGE – Without any games scheduled for the next 12 days, the men’s basketball team was eager to go into the break with a win.
They were able to come away with just that after a thrilling 76-71 win in double overtime against Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion Wednesday night.
“I thought it was an incredibly exciting college basketball game,” said head coach Bill Coen. “Both teams played extremely hard and both teams made winning plays. We were just fortunate at the end of the game to make enough shots to come away with the win.”
Junior forward Manny Adako (12 points) connected on his first two shots in double overtime to put the Huskies up four with two minutes to go.
Then sophomore guard Chaisson Allen buried a fade-away jumped with 19 seconds to play to secure the win.
Despite holding a six-point lead with 35 seconds to play in regulation, the Huskies were unable to put Harvard away.
The Crimson hit back-to-back threes including the tying shot by guard Drew Housman with eight seconds to play. After a tough lay-up from junior center Nkem Ojougboh fell short, the teams headed to extra play.
But, this experienced group of Huskies was not going to let this one slip away and came out strong in the overtimes.
“I was extremely proud of my guys,” Coen said. “A lot of teams would have collapsed after giving up that lead. I thought Harvard had all the momentum but our guys hung tough, made some defensive stops and were able to work hard on the offensive backboards to extend our possessions.”
Northeastern dominated the boards in the game as it finished with a 43-26 rebounding advantage.
The game was back and forth all night as no team held an advantage of more than nine points at any time. There were only three lead changes and the teams were knotting up on 11 different occasions.
Junior guard and captain Matt Janning led all scorers with 21 points while Allen added 17.
“I thought both guys stepped up at different parts of the game,” Coen said. “It was an extended game, both guys were tired at the end but I was proud of their efforts particularly on the defensive end.”
Janning also achieved a personal milestone in the first half when he became the forth-quickest Husky to eclipse the 1,000 career points milestone.
With 8:06 to play, the junior made a jumper from just inside the arc which gave NU a 19-17 lead and gave him his 1,000 and 1,001 career point.
“It feels great to finally get there,” Janning said. “Its been on the table the last four games or so but to be able to do it in a win like this, close to home, its nice to do it in front of some home-town fans.”
Ojougboh finished the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds in his strongest game of the season thus far. He also connected on a hook-shot in the paint with only three seconds left in the first OT to tie the game up at 66.
“Nkem Ojougboh really came to play tonight,” Coen said. “He made a terrific bucket to get us into double overtime and he probably just played his best game of the year.”
Without a game for the next 12 days, Janning knew how important it was to get a win in this contest.
“We looked at it as we have 12 days off before Indiana,” he said. “We might as well win this one so everybody can be happy for 12 days instead of being upset.”
Northeastern will now break for finals before it travels to Bloomington, Ind. to battle Indiana on Dec. 22nd at 9 p.m. The Huskies will return home after the break to take on William ‘ Mary at Matthews Arena on Jan. 3 at 1 p.m.
