Marcus Blossom scored 23 points and Tyrone Hammick added a career-high 22 to lead Northeastern to an 89-77 win over UNC Greensboro at Solomon Court.
NU won its first game of the season to improve to 1-3, while the Spartans dropped to 1-3. Courtney Eldridge, a Boston native, returned to his hometown and netted a career-high 25 points for UNC Greensboro. David Schuck added 21 points (tying his career high) and 12 rebounds for the Spartans, while teammate Nathan Jameson netted 16. Jean Bain chipped in 14 points for the Huskies. Jean Francois had nine points, 10 boards and four blocks, and fellow freshman Cleophus Morris added 10 points off the bench for NU.
The Huskies led by 13 at the half, but UNC Greensboro stayed in the game after intermission, using a 13-5 run over the first 6:26 of the second half to get within five as Jay Joseph's layup cut the NU edge to 47-42 with 13:34 left. The Huskies answered with a 12-2 spurt to push the lead to 15, their largest lead of the night. Bain capped the surge with a three-pointer that put the Huskies up 59-44 with 10:55 left.
Still, the Spartans made one last run, outscoring the Huskies 16-2 over the next 4:07 to get within one, 61-60, with 6:48 to go. Schuck had six points in the run, including a pair of free throws that made it a one-point game. The Spartans never had a chance to take the lead, however, as Bain hit a jumper on the other end to start an 18-6 Husky run that put the game away. Blossom and Bain each had seven points in the run. Bain's three-pointer made it a comfortable 13-point lead, 79-66, with just 1:56 left.
NU jumped out to leads of 12-5 and 18-11 before the Spartans came back with a 7-2 run to get within two, 20-18, and 9:22 left in the first half. Blossom then had five points in a 9-0 NU spurt that put the Huskies up 29-18 with 6:51 left. The lead would grow as large as 14 (36-22), before the Spartans trimmed it by one and went into the break down 42-29. UNC Greensboro shot just 31.4 percent (11-35) in the first half.
It was the second straight season that NU's Hammick played well against UNC Greensboro. He established his career high with 20 points in the Huskies' loss at UNCG last year. NU was playing without starting guard Charles Cranford, who missed the game with an injured thumb.
Next up, the Huskies will play the third game in a four-game homestand when they host Holy Cross at Solomon Court on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
VISITORS: UNC Greensboro 1-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Jameson, Nathan * 5-14 4-10 2-2 1 0 1 4 16 0 1 0 2 30
23 Eldridge, Courtney * 7-18 1-5 10-12 2 3 5 4 25 7 5 0 6 39
32 Joseph, Jay * 2-9 1-6 0-2 1 4 5 2 5 2 1 0 0 36
40 Schuck, David * 5-14 0-2 11-14 4 8 12 3 21 1 1 0 1 40
55 Popp, Nathan * 0-2 0-0 1-2 3 4 7 3 1 0 1 1 0 22
01 Taylor, Ronnie 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 2 5 0 0 10
20 FitzGerald, Brian 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
34 Williams, Geoff 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 6
42 Boythe, Luke 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 4 4 0 0 0 0 11
45 Tsampas, Peter 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
54 McCarthy, Sean 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM ........................................ 2 1 3
TOTALS 23-69 7-26 24-32 13 28 41 25 77 13 14 1 9 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 11-35 31.4% 2ndH: 12-34 35.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 33.3% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 1-10 10.0% 2ndH: 6-16 37.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 26.9% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 6-10 60.0% 2ndH: 18-22 81.8% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 75.0% 4
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 1-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Bain, Jean * 3-7 2-3 6-7 0 4 4 3 14 3 1 0 0 28
23 Francois, Jean * 3-10 0-0 3-4 3 7 10 5 9 1 4 4 0 26
30 Blossom, Marcus * 9-14 2-3 3-5 1 6 7 4 23 5 4 0 3 40
32 Barnes, Dwayne * 0-6 0-2 0-0 0 4 4 4 0 0 1 1 0 26
34 Hammick, Tyrone * 8-12 0-0 6-8 4 6 10 4 22 4 2 2 2 34
01 Amedee, Rubens 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 1 8
03 Morris, Cleophus 3-5 2-4 2-6 0 3 3 4 10 0 1 0 0 18
40 Aygar, George 4-8 0-0 1-1 2 1 3 1 9 3 3 2 0 20
TEAM ........................................ 2 3 5 1
TOTALS 31-63 6-12 21-31 12 37 49 27 89 17 18 9 6 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 17-37 45.9% 2ndH: 14-26 53.8% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 49.2% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-6 33.3% 2ndH: 4-6 66.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 50.0% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 6-8 75.0% 2ndH: 15-23 65.2% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 67.7% 2
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OFFICIALS: Joe Mingle, Gary Agger, Robert Patey
TECHNICAL FOULS:
UNC Greensboro - none
Northeastern - none
ATTENDANCE: 911
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
UNC Greensboro 29 48 77
Northeastern 42 47 89
Francois (NU) fouls out at 1:00
Taylor (UNCG) fouls out at 0:15
