The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

Men’s Basketball: Huskies lose at buzzer in N.C.

By By Max Lederman and Jake Strickland

The Huskies dropped another close Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest Saturday when UNC Wilmington guard T.J. Carter hit a pull-up jumper as the clock expired, giving the host Seahawks a 46-44 victory. Bobby Kelly had just tied the game with a three-pointer, but it was in vain as the Huskies now find themselves 11-8 overall (7-4 CAA).

NU didn’t have a single player score in double digits and turned the ball over 19 times. Senior Jose Juan Barea statistically had the worst game of his career, scoring five points on 2-of-12 shooting.

“By turning the ball over 19 times, our scoring opportunities were seriously limited,” head coach Ron Everhart said.

Northeastern squandered a nine-point halftime lead on the road. However, they lost at the buzzer and played in front of 6,100 fans at a sold-out Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C.

Junior guard Adrian Martinez led NU with nine points, going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while sophomore forward Shawn James scored seven to go with his team-high 11 rebounds and five blocks.

As a team, the Huskies shot a respectable 40 percent from the floor, but they only hit 6-of-19 shots in the second half.

“Both teams were extremely physical on defense, and that aspect made it tough to make baskets and kept the score low,” junior guard Bobby Kelly said.

Normally a run-and-gun team, the Huskies were limited to only five fast-break points on the night.

“UNC Wilmington did a good job of making it a half-court game, which prevented us from converting easy shots,” Everhart said.

Believe it or not, their shooting woes didn’t cost them the game, as the Seahawks (16-6, 9-2 CAA) had an even worse day from the field, hitting a miserable 28.4 percent of their field goal attempts.

The glaring difference is the turnovers. NU had 19, while the Seahawks gave away possession just seven times.

Northeastern is now 3-6 on the road this year with four more games scheduled away from Matthews Arena, including two more Thursday-Saturday road trips, in which the Huskies have one day off in between two road games.

Thursday was the first game of their two-game road swing and the Huskies got a nice present: the 5-14 Georgia State Panthers (2-9 CAA). NU defeated the Panthers, 68-54. James finished just shy of his third career triple-double, with 12 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

More to Discover