The Northeastern men’s basketball team (6-16, 2-9 CAA) lost to the Hofstra University Pride (15-9, 6-5 CAA) 80-63 on the road Feb. 5. The Huskies struggled to grab rebounds and gave Hofstra too many second-chance opportunities. Hofstra’s defense kept Northeastern on the perimeter for most of the game, forcing the Huskies to take deep shots instead of relying on their forwards to score in the paint.
Sophomore guard Ryan Williams led the Huskies in scoring with 17 points, all of which he scored in the first half. Freshman guard Xavier Abreu picked up where Williams left off, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the second half. Junior guard William Kermoury scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and sophomore guard Luca Soroa Schaller led the team in rebounds with nine.
Although he only played for 14 minutes, senior forward Youri Fritz is back in the lineup for the Huskies after straining his MCL earlier this season. He had started every game of the season before his injury.
The Huskies were outscored 41-28 in the first half, with Williams scoring all but 11 of Northeastern’s points. Hofstra won the tip and was hot early, going up 10-2 in the first four minutes. Then, Northeastern took 10 of the next 12 points to tie the score at 12 with just under 13 minutes to go.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, Hofstra then took eight straight points and kept Northeastern scoreless for the next three minutes, putting the Pride ahead 20-12. The teams then went basket for basket until Hofstra scored another seven straight to increase its lead to 34-18.
Northeastern took 10 of the next 12 points, cutting the Pride’s lead to single digits with two minutes to go, but Hofstra was unwavering, keeping the Huskies scoreless the rest of the way and scoring five points of its own.
In the first half, Northeastern struggled with getting open shots in the time it had, suffering from two shot clock violations and giving up 13 points off their turnovers. The Huskies also ceded 10 second-chance points to the Pride’s none in the first half alone.
The second half was much closer as the Huskies were only outscored 39-35, but their deficit from the first half was too much to come back from. Northeastern had no foul shot opportunities in the first half but scored nine of 14 attempts from the line in the second.
Kermoury resumed the scoring with a 3-pointer, his first of three in the second half. Hofstra answered with three points off an and-one play that Northeastern followed with two made free throws by Soroa Schaller. After over a minute without scoring, Hofstra hit a three, but Kermoury answered with an and-1 on a 3-pointer, completing the four-point play to cut Hofstra’s lead back down to 47-37 with 17 minutes to go.
Unfortunately, that was the smallest lead the Pride held for the rest of the game, answering each move the Huskies made with more points. Northeastern was in the bonus with over nine minutes to go and made five foul shots, but it wasn’t enough. Hofstra let the clock run out to take the win over Northeastern, 80-63.
The Huskies are back in action against the Stony Brook Seawolves (14-10, 6-5 CAA) Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. for another game on Long Island. The Seawolves were on a five-game winning streak, which included defeating the Huskies Jan. 22, before falling to the Monmouth Hawks 76-75 Feb. 5.
