By Andrew Parente
Off to its best start since joining the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), the men’s basketball team continued its strong play this week with wins over Hofstra and Georgia State.
Against the Pride Monday night, the Huskies jumped out to an early 11 point lead over the first four minutes. Junior Manny Adako contributed six points during the run. He finished with a game-high 16 points.
Northeastern also had three other players in double figures. Junior guard Matt Janning scored 10 points, junior center Nkem Ojougboh recorded 13 and sophomore guard Allen Aragbaye added 11.
The 11 points for Aragbaye is a career high.
With the win, NU remained undefeated in the CAA, upping its record to 3-0 and 8-5 overall. The Pride fell to 9-5, 1-2 in conference.
“I thought we were very fortunate to get off to a good start,” said head coach Bill Coen. “We set the tone early with our defensive effort and on the backboards. Going into the game we were very concerned about Hofstra’s ability to rebound the basketball and I was very proud of our effort on the backboards tonight.”
NU outrebounded Hofstra by a 39-32 margin.
The defense for the Huskies was again strong, especially in the first half. Sophomore guard Chaisson Allen came up with five steals in the first half alone, six in the game. The defense as a whole forced Hofstra into 25 turnovers.
“We tried to pressure the ball,” Coen said. “It’s something we try to do every night. Sometimes you come up with a steal, sometimes you don’t. Teams are going to battle, and it is going to be about defense in this conference.”
Senior forward Eugene Spates was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range in the first half, helping NU to its large lead.
Adako continued his strong play throughout the half as he scored 12 points in the first frame as the Huskies went into the locker room with a 33-18 lead.
Despite being held to just two points on free throws in the first half, Janning came out strong to start the second as he scored eight of the first 10 Husky points.
Janning also combined with Ojougboh on a highlight real alley-oop at the 13:18 mark of the half.
After forward Dane Johnson dunked for Hofstra, Janning lobbed the ball up for Ojougboh who then slammed it home much to the appreciation of the Husky faithful.
From that point, the Huskies continued to dominate the floor en route to a 73-50 win.
Last night, Northeastern traveled to Atlanta to battle the Georgia State Panthers.
Again the Huskies were able f to get off to a good start as they began the game on a 23-8 run.
Spates had eight points during the run while Adako contributed six.
Allen hit a three with 8:32 to play in the half to push the lead to 31-10.
However, the Huskies did not record a basket for the rest of the half and Georgia State picked up its defensive effort. During this time, the Panthers got back into the game and the teams went into the half with the Huskies leading 31-18.
The teams exchanged baskets for most of the second half as the Panthers (4-11, 2-2 CAA) tried to make up the early deficit.
However, the Huskies were strong down the stretch and converted on their field goals to bring the game to its final margin, 68-54. Janning finished with his first double-double of his career as he recorded 11 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
The 14 rebounds is also career- high for the junior.
Adako was also in double figures, finishing with 13 points in his homecoming game, as he hails from just outside Atlanta in Decatur.
Spates also added 13 points as the Huskies used a well-balanced offensive attack to record the win.
Senior forward Matt Smith was also big for the Huskies in the second half, finishing with nine points, all on three-point shots.
Allen led the team in scoring with 14 points in the contest.
Northeastern (10-5, 4-0 CAA) will look to remain perfect in the CAA when it returns home Saturday to battle the Towson Tigers (7-9, 2-2 CAA) at 3 p.m. at Matthews Arena.
