POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Despite outscoring Columbia 36-33 in the second half, Northeastern men's basketball team was defeated 66-54 in the Huskies' season opener at the Pepsi-Marist Classic.
The Lions led wire-to-wire by displaying classic Ivy League fundamentals to defeat the Huskies. Columbia had 21 field goals on 18 assists as they beat NU with backdoor cuts, three pointers and smart play.
Columbia was led by 2000-01 Ivy League Player of the Year Craig Austin who scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds. Joe Case also was a key contributor for the Lions as he netted 18 points.
Northeastern had a tough time finding its range as they were outshot 52.5 percent to 35.2 percent. Senior Jean Bain shot 3-8 from the floor, but led NU with 11 points. Freshman Aaron Davis (4-11 from the field) was the only other Husky in double figures with 10 points.
The Lions jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and never looked back. Following Columbia's opening near four-minute run, the Huskies never got within fewer than six points the rest of the way.
NU went into the half down by 15, 33-18, but opened up the second frame of action on a 21-16 run to cut the Lion lead to 10. Columbia would respond, however, with an 11-2 run to push the lead to 19, 60-41, the game's largest lead.
Northeastern forced 18 Columbia turnovers and turned the ball over just eight times themselves, but struggled shooting all night. The Huskies shooting woes also included from the line as they were 11-22 on the game from the charity stripe.
Husky freshmen Davis (30 minutes), Antonio Johnson (23 minutes) and Lunzaya Nlandu (33 minutes) all saw over 20 minutes of playing time and shot a combined 9-29 from the field in their first action at NU. Johnson and junior Q Randall led NU on the glass with six boards apiece.
In his first game at Northeastern, head coach Ron Everhart became the 14th different Husky coach to lose his debut at NU. The Huskies have now lost three straight season openers and are 41-41 all-time in openers.
Northeastern will take on the winner of the Drexel/Marist game on Saturday night at either 6 or 8 p.m.
VISITORS: Northeastern 0-1
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
03 Nlandu, Lunzaya * 2-7 0-1 2-4 4 1 5 2 6 1 0 0 2 33
05 Bain, Jean * 3-8 1-3 4-6 0 1 1 5 11 0 0 0 1 34
12 Davis, Aaron * 4-11 2-4 0-3 0 1 1 1 10 1 1 0 0 30
22 Cranford, Ricky * 3-8 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 6 4 1 0 1 22
31 Randall, Q * 2-3 0-0 5-9 3 3 6 3 9 2 2 0 1 25
04 West, Tim 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
14 Brittian, Toby 1-4 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 5 2 3 0 2 2 19
20 Walker, Jamaar 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 8
23 Johnson, Antonio 3-11 1-5 0-0 1 5 6 3 7 0 1 0 2 23
TEAM ........................................ 0 3 3 2
TOTALS 19-54 5-16 11-22 9 18 27 21 54 11 8 2 9 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 19-54 35.2% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 35.2% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 5-16 31.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 31.3% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 11-22 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 50.0% 5
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HOME TEAM: Columbia 1-0
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
12 Mayo, Derrick * 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 7 7 2 0 4 4 0 0 24
15 Duerksen, Treg * 2-4 1-3 3-4 0 1 1 2 8 1 3 0 0 35
23 Austin, Craig * 7-11 1-3 6-6 1 8 9 3 21 2 5 0 0 32
32 Case, Joe * 6-10 4-7 2-2 0 6 6 2 18 7 3 2 1 33
52 Wiedemann, Chris * 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 4 3 2 1 1 0 23
03 Murphy, Maurice 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
04 Munoz, Victor 0-0 0-0 4-4 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 10
11 McCottry, Marco 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 3
14 Boswell, Jeremiah 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 Hill, Tito 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
34 Clemons, Grant 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 4
44 McBrien, Mike 3-7 1-2 1-2 1 3 4 3 8 2 0 0 0 27
TEAM ........................................ 0 1 1
TOTALS 21-40 7-18 17-20 3 32 35 18 66 18 18 3 1 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 21-40 52.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 52.5% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 7-18 38.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 38.9% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 17-20 85.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 85.0% 1
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OFFICIALS: Art McDonald, John Hughes, Gary Tracy
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Northeastern - none
Columbia - none
ATTENDANCE: 547
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
Northeastern 18 36 54
Columbia 33 33 66
Opening round of the Pepsi-Marist Classic
