BOSTON, MA - Second-seeded Boston University (20-9, 13-3 America East) defeated Northeastern (7-21, 5-11) in the first game of the America East Championship on Saturday afternoon at Matthews Arena.
BU's Jason Grochowalski came off the Terrier bench to lead four BU players in scoring with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Chaz Carr added 17 points, Rashad Bell 14 and Billy Collins had 10 points and 10 rebounds for BU. Freshman Aaron Davis paced NU with a career-high 28 points, including 4-5 from behind the three-point stripe, while seniors Ricky Cranford (15 points) and Jean Bain (11 points) also reached double-figures in their final games as Huskies.
For the game, BU outrebounded Northeastern 53-32, including 21 offensive rebounds that led to 27 second chance points. Rebounding was the difference as all other statistical categories were relatively the same. NU shot 40 percent from the floor and from three-point land, while BU shot 43 percent from the floor and made 35 percent of its three-pointers.
Northeastern led 25-24 after a Tim West (6 points) layup with 6:58 remaining in the first half. But BU then went on a 13-0 run over the next three minutes to build a 12-point lead. The Terrier lead never dipped below seven points the rest of the way. Grochowalski had seven points during that run.
In the second half, the BU advantage grew as large as 17 points (53-36) with 14:32 left in the game after a 7-0 Terrier run finished off with a jumper by Grochowalski.
A Jesse Dunn (7 points) three-pointer with 5:01 remaining brought the Huskies within nine. But BU had an answer for the NU run with a pair of free throws by Bell and a layup by Collins to get the lead back up to 13.
Boston University will meet Hartford on Sunday afternoon at 12:07 p.m. in the semifinals. The game will be televised by NESN on a tape-delay basis in Boston at 7 p.m.
VISITORS: #7 Northeastern 7-21
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 West, Tim * 2-2 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 4 6 0 0 0 2 19
05 Bain, Jean * 4-12 3-8 0-0 0 1 1 2 11 3 2 0 0 32
12 Davis, Aaron * 10-15 4-5 4-6 2 3 5 1 28 1 2 1 1 35
20 Walker, Jamaar * 1-7 0-1 0-2 0 3 3 4 2 6 1 0 3 23
32 Dunn, Jesse * 3-7 1-4 0-0 1 2 3 3 7 0 0 0 0 21
01 Hancock, Jermaine 1-3 1-1 0-0 1 1 2 2 3 1 0 0 1 6
03 Nlandu, Lunzaya 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 11
14 Brittian, Toby 1-5 0-2 0-0 2 1 3 5 2 0 1 1 0 14
22 Cranford, Ricky 4-14 1-3 6-10 4 4 8 2 15 1 2 1 0 24
42 Burke-Bennett,Meshak 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 5 2 0 3 0 2 15
TEAM ........................................ 1 3 4 1
TOTALS 27-68 10-25 12-20 12 20 32 32 76 12 11 5 9 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 12-32 37.5% 2ndH: 15-36 41.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 39.7% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 4-14 28.6% 2ndH: 6-11 54.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 40.0% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 5-6 83.3% 2ndH: 7-14 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 60.0% 5
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HOME TEAM: #2 Boston University 20-9
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 Fitzgerald, Kevin * 2-5 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 5 3 3 0 2 30
10 Carr, Chaz * 3-10 1-4 10-13 1 5 6 3 17 4 5 0 1 36
13 Bell, Rashad * 4-7 0-1 6-7 3 3 6 3 14 0 0 0 1 21
30 Collins, Billy * 4-8 0-1 2-7 5 5 10 1 10 0 0 0 2 29
43 Butt, Ryan * 2-6 0-0 1-1 2 4 6 3 5 3 3 1 1 20
05 Seymour, Paul 2-6 1-3 0-0 1 0 1 3 5 0 0 0 0 14
22 Michalek, Mark 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
24 Grochowalski, Jason 7-14 2-4 5-8 4 7 11 0 21 0 2 0 0 23
31 Dhondt, Stijn 1-2 0-0 7-10 3 4 7 2 9 3 2 0 0 20
42 Rodriguez, Nacho 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 6
TEAM ........................................ 2 3 5
TOTALS 25-58 5-14 31-46 21 32 53 17 86 13 16 1 7 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 16-34 47.1% 2ndH: 9-24 37.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 43.1% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 5-11 45.5% 2ndH: 0-3 00.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 35.7% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 5-7 71.4% 2ndH: 26-39 66.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 67.4% 7
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OFFICIALS: Rich Giallela, Ben Vasconcells, Leroy Hendricks
TECHNICAL FOULS:
#7 Northeastern - the bench(1)
#2 Boston University - none
ATTENDANCE: TBA
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
#7 Northeastern 33 43 76
#2 Boston University 42 44 86
PTS IN THE PAINT: #7 Northeastern - 24 #2 Boston University - 28
PTS OFF TURNOVERS: #7 Northeastern - 19 #2 Boston University - 10
2ND CHANCE POINTS: #7 Northeastern - 17 #2 Boston University - 27
FAST BREAK POINTS: #7 Northeastern - 16 #2 Boston University - 04
