By Andrew Parente

With four games during the next seven days, it was important for the men’s basketball team to get off to a good start in the New Year.

The Huskies were able to do just that as they posted a 60-44 win over William ‘ Mary at Matthews Arena Saturday afternoon.

Northeastern improves to 7-5 on the season and 2-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Tribe fell to 5-7 and 0-2 in the CAA.

Junior guard Matt Janning scored 22 points, including 17 in the first half, on 7-of-9 shooting to lead all scorers.

“He’s our leader,” said head coach Bill Coen. “We need Matt to be productive on the offensive end of the floor, which allows everybody to stay in their role.”

The Huskies’ defense held the Tribe to their lowest point total of the season, and held them to just 34 percent shooting.

“That’s where we’re going to win games,” Coen said. “We have to be stingy on the defensive end of the floor and I thought we sat down and guarded shots and rebounded the ball.”

Sophomore guard Chaisson Allen added 12 points to go along with eight rebounds as the backcourt for the Huskies proved to be the difference in the game.

Junior forward Manny Adako tallied 13 points in the contest on 6-of-9 shooting.

Coen also discussed the importance of Adako’s presence down low and how it opens up options on the floor.

“To get that kind of anchor down low and play off the post that will open up our perimeter game,” Coen said. “That’s what we tried to establish early so our perimeter guys can get shots.”

Northeastern trailed early in the game, 7-6, until Janning was able to heat up and score 12 consecutive Husky points during a two minute span.

Janning connected on three out of four three-point attempts and then converted a three-point play after scoring on a lay-up and getting fouled in the process.

A pair of Janning free throws at the six-minute mark of the first half gave the Huskies their largest lead of the half, 22-9.

“When they switched to zone, we got some free space for a couple of possessions,” Janning said. “That opened up some clean looks and really got us going.”

William ‘ Mary chipped away at the Husky lead and got it down to 34-30 with 12:47 to play. However, the defense tightened up and held the Tribe to no field goals during the next 10 minutes.

During this time, NU was able to go on a 16-6 run to regain their double digit lead.

Allen recorded most of his points during this stretch and came up with his biggest basket of the game at the 4:34 mark.

With the shot clock ticking down, the sophomore connected on a fall-away jump shot to put NU up by 13, 49-36.

“Chase has been knocking down some big shots the last few games,” Janning said. “He’s really worked on his pull-up game and you can see it out there. He’s getting guys off of him and knocking down open shots.”

Adako scored seven of his 13 points in the games’ final two minutes.

His jumper at the 2:09 mark gave the Huskies a 16-point lead, their largest of the game.

Northeastern will continue its stretch of CAA play when it plays host to Hofstra tonight at Matthews Arena at 7 p.m.