Despite a strong home court advantage, the men’s basketball team could not extend its latest winning streak to three. The Huskies lost their second home game of the season with a 59-68 loss to Drexel Monday.
Northeastern (7-15, 5-6 Colonial Athletic Association) was 6-1 at Matthews Arena this season and seemed poised to win a third consecutive game before a late-game comeback by Drexel halted the Huskies.
Drexel recovered from a 17-point first-half deficit, limiting NU shooters to 42 percent from the floor.
“We played hard and put ourselves in a position to win,” said head coach Bill Coen. “But we didn’t play smart enough down the stretch to come away with the victory.”
The Huskies had nine second-half turnovers and were hindered by their lack of depth. Junior forward Mark Washington fouled out of the game with just under five minutes left and senior co-captain Bennet Davis and freshman forward Manny Adako missed minutes in the second half due to minor injuries.
Freshman guard and CAA Rookie of the Week Matt Janning led the Huskies with 18 points.
Davis made history Saturday when he scored his 1,000th career point four minutes into the 73-64 win over Delaware, becoming the 27th Husky to reach the milestone.
“To be honest, I didn’t know I was even close until yesterday, when one of my teammates texted me and said I was four points away,” Davis said.
Davis finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
The Huskies shot 50 percent from the floor (23-for-46) and 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from behind the three-point arc.
“We are a lot better when we play unselfish basketball,” Coen said. “We get higher-quality shots, we get higher-percentage shots, and I think the guys understand when they throw the extra pass it really benefits us.”
The unselfish style of play allowed four Huskies to score in double figures, led by Davis (18) and senior co-captain Adrian Martinez (17).
After Delaware scored four points, the Huskies hit 7-of-8 from the line to make it 71-57 with 40 seconds remaining. The Huskies were content to let the Blue Hens have the last word in garbage time, when they scored seven unanswered points.
Northeastern started the week with a 67-51 win over James Madison Wednesday. Janning put up a career-high 23 points in his best all-around performance of the season. He also had five steals, five rebounds and two blocks.
The Huskies went on a 16-2 run with 11 minutes remaining to clinch the win, and the breakaway lead was capped by Janning’s four-point play.
Janning hit a three-pointer in the right corner near his team’s bench, falling down as he was fouled by JMU’s Juwann James.
“I thought JMU did a great job in the first half getting in the passing lanes and not allowing us to run the floor,” Coen said. “It was very, very disruptive. In the second half we just had better execution.”
Tonight the Huskies travel to Towson (11-11, 5-6 CAA) to take on the Tigers and will visit the Hofstra Pride (16-6, 9-2 CAA), second place in the conference, Saturday. The Pride will attempt to avenge the NU 84-74 upset win over Hofstra Jan. 13.
