Northeastern used a 23-7 game-ending run to earn a 69-66 comeback victory over James Madison in the consolation final of the 2002 San Juan Shootout in Caguas, Puerto Rico. NU finishes fifth overall in the eight-team tournament and improves to 5-5 on the season, while JMU falls to 4-5 overall.
Despite leading by three at the half, 36-33, Northeastern came out sluggish to start the second frame of action. James Madison responded with a 12-2 run to take a seven-point lead, 45-38, with 16:50 remaining. The Dukes would push their advantage to as many as 13, 59-46, with 11:41 to play.
Northeastern then began to chip away at the JMU lead as junior Cornellius Wright was the catalyst of the surge. Wright missed NU's second round game versus Sacred Heart with a shoulder injury and sat out the first half of the JMU game. He came into the lineup in the second half when Husky head coach Ron Everhart was getting poor production from his low-post players, who were in foul trouble. Wright scored five straight points, seven overall for NU, took two offensive charges and assisted on a Sylbrin Robinson three-point play in a Huskies' run that gave them their first lead since the 19:14 mark. Aaron Davis's three-pointer at the top of the key gave NU a 68-66 advantage with 1:54 to go.
JMU missed a shot on its next possession to give Northeastern the ball back. Jamaar Walker, running the point for Jose Juan Barea, who fouled out at the 4:49 mark on a questionable offensive foul call, attempted to connect with Robinson on a backside alleyoop but a turnover resulted. The Dukes took the ball and the Huskies played tight defense. JMU's Kenny Whitehead missed a hook in the paint before Robinson controlled the rebounded and was fouled immediately. Robinson went to the line, but missed both free throws to give the Dukes another shot at tying or winning the game.
The Huskies' pressure D once again came up big as the Huskies forced the Dukes into a turnover when Chris Williams threw the ball to the third row when he was double-teamed at the top of the key. Wright was fouled on the inbounds pass and went to the line where he netted one of two, giving the game its final three-point margin, 69-66. JMU had one last possession, but turned the ball over on the full-court inbounds pass.
For the game the Huskies were led by Barea's 18 points. Robinson recorded his second straight double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Huskies managed to come away with the victory after being outshot 47.9 percent to 39.3 percent and outrebounded 39-31.
JMU was paced Ian Caskill (17 points) and Dwayne Broyles (12 points).
In a hotly contested first half, the Huskies escaped with a slim 36-33 lead at intermission. Barea paced the Huskies through the first 20 minutes of action with 11 points, going 3-4 from three-point land, while Javorie Wilson added nine points, connecting on 2-3 from downtown. Robinson posted six points and a team-high five rebounds in the first half.
James Madison extended its lead to a first-half high eight points, 19-11, with 10:34 to go before the break. Northeastern would rattle off a 10-2 spurt to even the game at 21-21 courtesy of a Wilson three. Wilson scored nine straight points for the Huskies, his total at the half, from 8:54 to the 5:22 mark.
NU closed the half on a 7-2 run to take its largest lead of the half, 36-33, to the locker room. The Huskies shot just 36.1 percent from the field, compared to the Dukes' 41.9 percent. NU, however, connected on 5-15 from three-point range, while JMU was just 1-11 from beyond the arc.
Northeastern next faces Providence on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. in Rhode Island.
VISITORS: Northeastern 5-5
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
04 Wilson, Javorie * 3-10 2-6 1-3 1 3 4 4 9 3 1 1 0 26
05 Barea, Jose Juan * 6-13 3-5 3-3 1 0 1 5 18 2 3 0 4 30
11 Martinez, Adrian * 0-5 0-2 0-0 2 2 4 3 0 2 2 0 1 17
33 Robinson, Sylbrin * 5-7 1-2 5-12 4 6 10 3 16 0 2 1 1 34
52 Oliynyk, Gene * 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 4 4 0 2 1 0 15
12 Davis, Aaron 3-9 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 7 0 1 0 1 29
20 Walker, Jamaar 3-9 0-0 2-2 3 2 5 2 8 2 4 0 0 28
30 Wright, Cornellius 2-2 0-0 3-6 0 0 0 3 7 1 1 0 1 13
32 Dunn, Jesse 0-4 0-4 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 8
TEAM ........................................ 4 0 4
TOTALS 24-61 7-23 14-26 17 14 31 25 69 11 17 3 8 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 24-61 39.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 39.3% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 7-23 30.4% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 30.4% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 14-26 53.8% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 53.8% 7
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HOME TEAM: James Madison 4-5
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 Fanning, David * 1-8 1-7 3-5 0 3 3 3 6 3 7 0 0 35
30 Broyles, Dwayne * 4-6 3-5 1-2 0 5 5 4 12 0 3 0 1 28
32 Williams, Chris * 2-3 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 4 5 1 4 3 0 31
35 Whitehead, Kenny * 4-9 0-0 3-4 1 4 5 4 11 1 5 1 1 31
51 Caskill, Ian * 6-7 0-0 5-7 4 4 8 2 17 1 5 0 1 33
02 Miller, Wes 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 9
03 Hatter, Charlie 1-5 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 12
22 Freeman, Daniel 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5
42 Mitchell, Pat 4-5 0-0 3-6 5 5 10 5 11 3 2 0 1 16
TEAM ........................................ 3 1 4
TOTALS 23-48 4-17 16-26 14 25 39 24 66 11 27 4 5 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 23-48 47.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 47.9% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 4-17 23.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 23.5% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 16-26 61.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 61.5% 7
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OFFICIALS: Kevin Scott, Steve Coleman, Jason McNeil
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Northeastern - none
James Madison - none
ATTENDANCE: 109
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
Northeastern 36 33 69
James Madison 33 33 66
Consolation final of the 2002 San Juan Shootout
