Marcus Blossom scored a game-high 18 points to lead Northeastern to a come-from-behind, 65-62 win over Drexel at Solomon Court on Friday.
The Huskies rallied from an 11-point deficit with 5:31 left to break a six-game losing streak and improve to 2-9 overall, 1-2 in conference play. The Dragons, who made 14 of their first 17 field goals attempts in the second half to build a 57-46 edge, committed six turnovers and shot just two of eight in the final five minutes. Drexel dropped to 4-7 and 2-2 in America East.
Drexel had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but NU freshman Jean Francois blocked a three-point shot of Howard Ashley at the top of the key with only two seconds left. Francois finished with four blocks.
With the game tied at 59, George Aygar rebounded a missed Blossom three-pointer and put the Huskies ahead to stay with a short jumper that made the score 61-59 with 1:27 left. Francois then intercepted a Petrick Sanders pass and raced to the other end for a monstrous dunk that gave the Huskies a 63-59 edge with 1:05 to go. Mike Kouser (14 points) answered with a three-point play after an offensive rebound to cut the NU lead to one, 63-62, with 44 seconds left. Blossom then drove the lane and hit a short jumper with 11 seconds to create the game's final margin.
Stephen Starks led Drexel with 15 points, while Joe Linderman and Kouser added 14. Charles Cranford netted 13 for the Huskies and Francois had 10 off the bench.
The Huskies controlled the game early, jumping out to a 23-13 lead with 7:44 to go before intermission. But the Dragons began getting some easy inside baskets and used a 13-7 run to end the half down just four, 30-26.
Drexel started the second half by making its first four field goal attempts. Kouser hit consecutive layups to complete an 8-0 surge that gave the Dragons their first lead since the opening minutes, up 34-30 with 18:09 remaining. NU came back with a 10-2 run to reclaim a four-point advantage, 40-36, with 13:46 left. Drexel then made nine straight field goals in 19-4 run over the next 7:33 to claim a 55-44 lead, their largest of the night, with 6:13 to go. After the teams traded baskets, the Huskies were down 57-46 when they started a decisive 19-5 spurt over the final 5:31. Blossom had seven points in the run.
Blossom moved into the top 10 on NU's career scoring list and now had 1195 points for his career.
VISITORS: Drexel 4-7, 2-2 AE
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 Howard, Ashley * 2-7 1-5 2-2 1 2 3 1 7 6 5 0 0 39
30 Starks, Stephen * 7-15 0-4 1-2 2 3 5 1 15 2 1 0 2 39
31 Sanders, Petrick * 1-2 0-0 1-1 1 5 6 3 3 0 4 0 0 33
32 Kouser, Mike * 6-10 0-3 2-3 1 7 8 3 14 3 4 0 0 32
44 Linderman, Joe * 4-10 0-0 6-7 2 5 7 4 14 2 6 0 0 35
15 Fairfax, Henry 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
22 Schmieder, Eric 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
23 Battle, Robert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 Moore, Jamil 2-2 0-0 1-1 1 1 2 2 5 1 3 0 1 12
42 Deveney, Pat 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM ........................................ 2 2 4
TOTALS 24-48 1-12 13-16 10 26 36 16 62 14 23 0 3 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 8-23 34.8% 2ndH: 16-25 64.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 50.0% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 1-10 10.0% 2ndH: 0-2 00.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 08.3% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 9-11 81.8% 2ndH: 4-5 80.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 81.3% 2
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 2-9, 1-2 AE
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 * 2-8 0-5 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 4 1 0 1 25
22 Cranford, Charles * 6-12 0-1 1-3 1 1 2 0 13 0 0 0 0 27
30 Blossom, Marcus * 7-15 2-8 2-2 1 6 7 0 18 4 1 1 1 39
34 Hammick, Tyrone * 3-5 0-0 3-5 3 0 3 4 9 1 3 0 3 24
40 Aygar, George * 2-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 5 4 0 0 1 0 16
01 Amedee, Rubens 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 7
03 Morris, Cleophus 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 3 0 0 3 17
04 West, Tim 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 4 0 1 0 1 16
23 Francois, Jean 5-8 0-0 0-1 0 5 5 3 10 1 2 4 3 29
TEAM ........................................ 1 0 1
TOTALS 28-58 3-17 6-12 8 15 23 18 65 13 10 6 12 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 14-31 45.2% 2ndH: 14-27 51.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 48.3% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 1-8 12.5% 2ndH: 2-9 22.2% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 17.6% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 1-2 50.0% 2ndH: 5-10 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 50.0% 2
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OFFICIALS: Bob Madigan, Jack Sweeney, Jeff Plunkett
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Drexel - none
Northeastern - none
ATTENDANCE: 440
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
Drexel 26 36 62
Northeastern 30 35 65
Marcus Blossom moves into top 10 NU career scoring list (1195)
