BOSTON, MA - Aaron Davis scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half to lead Northeastern to an 80-68 win over Rider at Solomon Court on Thursday.
The Huskies improved to 2-8 on the season, while the Broncs dropped to 4-6. NU was down 38-33 with 17:29 left in the second half when the Huskies went on a decisive 22-3 run over the next 7:31 of play to stake a 55-41 edge with 11:11 to go. Freshman Jermaine Hancock started the surge with a four-point play, sinking a three-pointer from the left side and getting fouled by Rich Baker. After a free throw by teammate Lunzaya Nlandu tied the game at 38, Davis sank a three-pointer to give the Huskies a 41-38 lead with 16:21 showing. NU never trailed again.
Toby Brittian, who had five points in the key 22-3 spurt, finished with 13 points. Nlandu also had 13, 12 coming in the first half. Mario Porter paced Rider with a game-high 19 points, while Laurence Young added 13 off the bench. Freshman Jerry Johnson netted 10 points.
Nlandu led the Huskies to a quick 5-0 lead with a layup and a three-pointer in the first three minutes of the game. Brittian followed with a dunk and another basket as NU increased its edge to 9-2. NU continued to extend the advantage as Rider's shooters remained cold. The Huskies built their largest lead of the first half, 25-14, after Q Randall made a pair of free throws with 5:09 left.
After Nlandu scored to make it 27-16 with 4:34 left, the Broncs went on an 11-0 run to tie the game at 27 with 2:27 to go before halftime. R.J. Wicks had five of his seven points in the spurt. Mike Scott's layup in the final second gave Rider a 32-31 lead at intermission.
The Broncs started the second half with a 6-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 38-33, with 17:29 to play. It was all Huskies after that, however, as Hancock's four-point play sparked a rally.
It was the first home win for new Northeastern coach Ron Everhart. The Huskies play their third game in six days on Saturday when they travel to meet Rhode Island (2 p.m.).
VISITORS: Rider 4-6
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
21 Johnson, Jerry * 3-7 2-6 2-2 0 1 1 5 10 3 4 0 0 21
23 Baker, Rich * 1-7 0-4 2-7 1 0 1 4 4 2 2 0 4 26
34 Wicks, R.J. * 2-4 1-3 2-2 0 3 3 4 7 3 4 0 1 27
42 Porter, Mario * 6-10 0-1 7-10 0 2 2 2 19 0 5 1 2 33
44 Wahlmann, Brandon * 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 1 0 14
22 Scott, Mike 3-6 1-3 0-0 2 3 5 3 7 1 5 1 2 14
31 Minyem, Armel 0-2 0-1 0-2 1 2 3 1 0 1 2 0 3 18
32 Taylor, Robert 2-2 0-0 2-2 0 5 5 3 6 1 3 0 3 17
33 Goncalves, Vitor 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
45 Young, Laurence 4-8 3-5 2-3 1 2 3 1 13 3 0 0 1 28
TEAM ........................................ 1 2 3
TOTALS 22-50 7-23 17-28 6 22 28 24 68 14 25 3 16 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 10-26 38.5% 2ndH: 12-24 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 44.0% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 4-12 33.3% 2ndH: 3-11 27.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 30.4% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 8-12 66.7% 2ndH: 9-16 56.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 60.7% 5, 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Northeastern 2-8
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 * 4-9 1-2 4-8 3 1 4 5 13 1 4 0 2 28
04 West, Tim * 2-5 0-0 2-2 3 1 4 4 6 0 2 0 1 19
14 Brittian, Toby * 5-8 1-3 2-4 0 6 6 2 13 1 3 2 3 25
20 Walker, Jamaar * 1-2 0-0 2-3 1 5 6 2 4 4 3 0 1 27
23 Johnson, Antonio * 3-7 0-2 2-2 0 6 6 2 8 3 4 0 1 28
01 Hancock, Jermaine 2-3 1-1 1-1 1 1 2 1 6 0 1 0 1 5
05 Bain, Jean 0-4 0-4 1-2 0 0 0 4 1 1 2 0 1 13
12 Davis, Aaron 6-13 2-5 3-3 1 3 4 2 17 3 2 0 4 29
22 Cranford, Ricky 2-4 0-1 0-0 2 2 4 0 4 1 2 0 0 8
31 Randall, Q 1-2 0-0 2-2 2 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 0 7
32 Dunn, Jesse 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 Burke-Bennett,Meshak 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 10
TEAM ........................................ 0 1 1
TOTALS 28-61 5-18 19-27 14 27 41 26 80 14 24 2 14 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 12-31 38.7% 2ndH: 16-30 53.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 45.9% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-12 16.7% 2ndH: 3-6 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 27.8% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 5-8 62.5% 2ndH: 14-19 73.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 70.4% 3, 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS: Fran Connolly, Gary Pucino, Mike Alvaro
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Rider - Scott, Mike(1)
Northeastern - none
ATTENDANCE: 257
