By Max Lederman
The Northeastern men’s basketball team fell just short of the impossible Monday night, losing 71-61 to cross town rival Boston University in the semi-final round of the America East Championship tournament.
With the win, BU (20-9, 13-3 America East) advances to the championship round of the tournament and will be playing for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. With the game tied at 47 a piece with 10:53 remaining in the game the Terriers took their defense to another level and slowly forged a lead that the Huskies just could not match.
“I can’t take anything away from those guys,” NU head coach Ron Everhart said. “They played excellent defense against us.”
In just over ten minutes the NU coaches, players and fans watched their dreams of winning the 2003 conference tournament slowly fade away and transform into dreams of next year. The Huskies battled hard throughout the game despite every single player being in foul trouble.
The NU starters combined for a staggering 19 personal fouls with Sylbryn Robinson and Cornellius Wright both fouling out. Robinson was forced to sit out for 17 minutes of the first half after picking up two personals in the first minute of the game.
The BU players and coaches must have been watching Sunday’s game between NU and Maine because Jose Juan Barea, who lit up the scoreboard in that game, couldn’t buy an easy shot from the Terriers. Barea netted just 11 points to go along with his six boards and three assist in what turned out to be his last game of the season.
“They played good defense against me,” said the 5’11 guard.
Javorie Wilson led NU with 13 points and six boards while Wright punched in 11 to go with his five rebounds in the loosing effort.
Both teams playing extremely physical. In the end, it was the chemistry and experience of the Terriers that prevailed.
“We lost to a team that has won a conference title before,” said Everhart. “They have been in games like these before, and that really showed that towards the end of tonight’s game.”
The Huskies entered the second half with a four-point lead, but BU tied the game at 43-43 with 12:58 remaining in the game, and the Huskies never saw the lead again. The Huskies shot just 25 percent from the floor in the second half mostly due to the zone defense BU coach Dennis Wolff installed.
“We played well in the first half, but we struggled in the second half against their zone,” Everhart said.
With the game still close, and the Huskies desperately trying to forge a comeback, the Terriers showed no mercy by hitting clutch shots and getting to the line. BU shot 36 free throws compared to NU’s 25. On multiple occasions, the referees had to consult replays just to see who they were calling the fouls on.
“I can’t say that the refs lost control of the game until I see the footage,” Everhart said.
The Huskies started the game playing the best basketball they have played all season and were completely in control until BU went on an 17-7 run to end the first half. The run shrank what was once a 14-point Husky lead to just four going into the break and seemed to take a lot of the momentum away from NU.
The loss ends a successful season for Northeastern as it won nine more games than it did last year, finishing with an overall record of 16-15 compared to 2002’s 7-21 record.
In the Huskies first round game Sunday afternoon, against the fourth seeded Maine Black bears it was all about Barea. The freshman guard, who was disappointed about not winning the America East Rookie of the Year award, broke loose for a career-high 38-points, including a last second three-pointer from well beyond the arch that won the game for NU.
“I really wanted that award,” said Barea after the game.
Jose’s buzzer beater was his fifth trey of the game. Sylbryn Robinson, although playing mostly one-handed due to a dislocated elbow, seemed to be back to his old self, finishing with 14 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.
The team shot 41.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from downtown. The Huskies played excellent basketball the entire game but struggled from the charity stripe hitting only 15 of their 26 free throw attempts. Maine’s biggest threat, seven-foot senior Justin Rowe, pulled down 11 rebounds, netted 11-points and swatted away six shots, but that wasn’t enough to keep his college career alive. According to nbadraft.net, Rowe is projected as a second round pick in this year’s NBA draft.
Walker to graduate: Finally, senior point guard Jamaar Walker, who had a total of nine-points, four assists and three steals in his final America East tournament, finished his NU career on Monday.
