By Andrew Parente, News Staff

‘ In a game that saw neither team have more than an eight point lead, it was no surprise that the men’s basketball team battled down to the last possession with Georgia State.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, Panther forward Ousman Krubally converted a last second lay-up as time expired to push his team to a 70-68 win last night at Matthews Arena.
With only 1.4 seconds on the clock, the NU defense was strong but Krubally was able to get into the paint, take advantage of a broken play and get off a shot before time expired. ‘ ‘ ‘
The Huskies trailed by eight with only 1:43 remaining in the game, but were able to get back in it and tie it at 68 with eight seconds on the clock.
Junior forward Manny Adako got it started with a lay-up in the paint and then made 1-of-2 free throws on the next possession. Senior forward Eugene Spates then came up with a steal, which lead to a basket from junior guard and captain Matt Janning.
Northeastern forced Georgia State into a turnover on its next trip down the court and senior forward Chris Alvarez put back a missed three from Janning to bring the margin to one.
After free throws from both teams, the Panthers lead by three with 13 seconds left. Junior guard Baptiste Bataille then drove the court and hit a pull-up three to tie the score at 68.
‘ ‘I thought it was a gutsy effort by our guys to just give yourself a chance to get it to overtime,’ said head coach Bill Coen. ‘Unfortunately, we didn’t get one more crack at it.’
Georgia State came back the other way, setting up the games’ final possession.
‘It’s just plays that happen, you see them every night on ESPN highlights and you just hate to be a part of it like this,’ Coen said. ‘Their kid made a tremendous pass and Krubally had the presence of mind to gather himself and put the ball in the basket.’
‘ The loss drops NU to 16-10 and 11-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Georgia State improves to 9-18, 7-9 in the CAA. The Huskies got out to a quick 6-0 lead to start the game, with four points coming from Adako. However, the Panthers got their offense going and took a brief 14-13 lead with 12:09 to play.
Janning then converted on a lay-up off a fast break to put NU back up 15-14.
From that point the teams exchanged baskets with the Huskies holding a slim lead throughout the half, until the Panthers were able to tie it at 25 with 3:30 left in the half.
NU scored the next four points before GSU guard Dante Curry buried a three with the half expiring to bring the game to 29-28.
For the game, Georgia State shot 55.8 percent from the floor. The Panthers were lead by guard Dante Curry, who scored a game-high 18 points.
‘ ‘We scored 68 points tonight and that’s generally more than enough for us to win a basketball game in the CAA,’ Coen said. ‘It’s more of our defense right now, giving up 56 percent shooting and you have to give credit to Georgia State; they made a bunch of shots at the end of the shot clock and a shot at the end of the first half to seize momentum.’
The Huskies had three players in double figures for scoring, Janning (15), Adako (14) and Spates (13).’ ‘
Saturday, the Huskies traveled to George Mason and dropped a tough 64-53 decision to the Patriots.
‘ NU held a three point lead at the half, but the Patriots were able to shoot 54.5 percent in the second half to come away with the win.
Northeastern will take a one-game break from CAA play when it travels to Dayton, Ohio to take on Wright State (16-11, 10-6 Horizon League) in the ESPNU BracketBuster game Saturday at 11 a.m.
The game will be televised on ESPN2.