By Andrew Parente, News Staff

Seeking its second straight win in the postseason, the men’s basketball team came out on the short end of a 75-66 decision against UTEP Monday night in the second round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament in El Paso, Texas.
The Huskies ended the season with a 19-13 overall record, including their first postseason win since 1984 in the first round of the this year’s CBI against Wyoming.
Shining in the loss was sophomore guard Chaisson Allen, who scored a career-high 26 points.
Head coach Bill Coen said he was pleased with the development of Allen through the year and credited his work ethic.
‘Chase worked extremely hard throughout the summer to improve his shot,’ Coen said. ‘Probably over the last month to six weeks of the season he might have been our best three-point shooter. He shot it with a tremendous amount of confidence, shot it with range and made threes while being contested.’
‘ Northeastern held an early 5-4 lead after a jumper by junior guard Matt Janning, but the Miners went back on top 7-5 on the next possession and held onto the lead for the rest of the game.
Allen would tie the game on a jumper off a pass from junior center Nkem Ojougboh, however the Miners went on a 20-5 run between the 12:43 and 7:06 of the first half marks to break the game open.
But the Huskies battled back and were able to get the lead down into single digits.
Janning came up with a three to put an end to the UTEP run, while Allen and Ojougboh then converted on back-to-back layups to get the lead down to 10, 29-19.
After the teams traded a free throw apiece, Allen hit another layup off a pass from Janning to get the advantage down to eight.
The Huskies were able to go into the half, trailing 35-27.
Janning got the second half started right for NU, as he scored six of his teams’ first 10 points. However, the Miners were able to go on a 12-2 run to push their lead to 18, 57-39.
Allen continued his hot shooting in the second half as he tried to keep the Huskies in the game. His three at the 5:40 mark got the lead down to 10; though that would be the closest it got.
The Miners went on an 11-3 run after Allen’s basket to put the game away.
For the game, both teams shot well from the field as UTEP shot 49 percent compared to 47 percent for the Huskies.
The rebounding advantage favored the Miners, as they out rebounded NU 32-27. UTEP also had 18 second-chance points, compared to just nine for the Huskies.
‘They have a very talented frontcourt and depth up front,’ Coen said. ‘Their big bodies and talent at those positions made a huge difference in the game.’
Janning and Ojougboh had 16 and 13 points, respectively to go along with Allen’s 23.
The Miners, who improved to 21-12, advanced to the CBI semifinals to battle Richmond.
‘UTEP is an extremely talented team, particularly in their backcourt,’ Coen said. ‘They came out at a high energy level and took control of the game. We settled down and executed our offense a little bit and got the game back to our pace. Ultimately in the second half we wore down, and that fatigue gave them an opportunity to stretch the lead out.’
Despite the loss, NU’s 19-13 record is the best finish since Coen took over prior to the 2006-07 season. The 12-6 CAA record matched the team’s best record from their first year in the conference in 2005-06.
‘The only thing that we ask of ourselves is that we give maximum effort,’ Coen said. ‘I thought for the most part we did that this season. In doing that we were able to accomplish some great things, a lot of firsts and a lot of things that haven’t been done in a long time.’
The season was highlighted by non-conference wins at Providence, who NU had not defeated since 1926, and Indiana.
Northeastern was also the first team in CAA play to win at VCU and Old Dominion in the same year.
The team also earned their first ever bye in the CAA tournament.
Four out of the five usual starters for the Huskies ‘-‘ Janning, Ojougboh, Allen and junior forward Manny Adako ‘- are expected to return next year.
‘ With that core of players coming back, Coen said he thought it was important for his team to become familiar with postseason play.
‘I thought it was important to play in the CBI because of their appetite for postseason play,’ Coen said. ‘It gave them an opportunity to see how difficult it is to qualify for postseason play and to advance. With that framework this summer, our guys can prepare for next year in the appropriate matter, and in doing that, were excited about what the future can hold for us.” ‘ ‘