A Jose Juan Barea three-pointer with 35 seconds remaining gave Northeastern the lead for good as the Huskies downed crosstown rival Boston University 72-69 at Case Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. NU trailed by as many as 16 in the second half, before mounting an improbable comeback over America East's top team.
Barea finished with a team-high 18 points, five coming in the last 35 seconds, to pace the Huskies. Juniors Sylbrin Robinson and Javorie Wilson were also instrumental in the NU victory as Robinson tallied the game's only double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Wilson chipped in with 14 points.
The Terriers were led by Rashad Bell's game-high 24 points, while Billy Collins (18) and Matt Turner (10) also scored in double figures. The loss was BU's first of the season in conference play, falling to 11-8 overall and 6-1 in league action. NU improved to 9-10 on the season and 2-4 in America East.
With the game knotted at 65-65 and 1:05 to go in the game, BU's Collins missed the back-end of a two-shot foul giving Robinson his 10th rebound of the game and NU the ball. Barea then advanced the ball over the timeline and ran the shot clock down to 10 seconds before starting the game's most crucial play. At the top of the key, Barea made a move to his right and pulled up to connect on a 25-foot three-pointer with five ticks on the shot clock and 35 seconds left in the game. NU led 68-65.
BU's Turner then missed a three-point field goal attempt with 18 seconds left and Barea gathered the rebound. Barea then went to the line and connected on both free throws, icing the game, to give NU a five-point lead, 70-65, with 16 seconds remaining. Robinson later tacked on two more free throws, which stymied any BU attempt at last-second heroics.
With 16:30 left in the second half, NU trailed by a game-high 16 points, 46-30. The Huskies then reeled off a 7-0 run over the next 2:02 to cut the BU lead to nine, 46-37.
The Terriers responded, however, with a 4-0 surge of their own to take a 50-37 lead before NU began to mount its comeback. Over the final 13:48, Northeastern outscored BU 35-19.
With NU trailing 56-46 at the 10:50 mark, the Huskies' tenacious defense buckled down. Northeastern held BU scoreless for the next 5:12 as NU unleashed a 14-0 run, giving the Huskies a 60-56 lead at 5:38.
Northeastern's decisive run was started on the defensive end as Turner's attempted dunk was blocked from behind by NU's Aaron Davis and Ryan Butt's putback attempt was swatted by Robinson. The defensive stop sparked the Huskies.
Back-to-back three pointers by Wilson and Robinson tied the game at 56-56 with 8:06 to go. Barea then went to the line and connected on both free throw attempts, giving NU its first lead, 58-56, since the Huskies led 5-4 at the 18:31 mark of the first half.
A Bell dunk with 5:38 to go brought the BU drought to a halt. The Terriers later regained the lead, 62-61, with just under three minutes to go courtesy of a Bell jumper. Davis answered for NU with a jumper of his own before Bell knocked down another shot giving BU its final lead of the game at 64-63 with 1:59 left.
Robinson then hit two crucial free throws, giving NU a one-point lead, 64-65. Collins was not as fortunate at the line as he made the first, but missed the second of his two free throw attempts, setting up Barea's decisive three.
The Huskies played a rather ugly first half, shooting 40.0 percent (10-25) and turning the ball over an uncharacteristic 11 times. BU led 38-28 at the break.
The Terriers took their largest lead of the first half, 27-15, when Butt found Paul Seymour for an easy layup. NU chipped away at the BU lead, cutting it to six, 27-21, with 4:25 left in the half, but the Terriers eventually pushed their bulge back to 10, 38-28, by intermission.
Next up for Northeastern is Binghamton on Wednesday at Solomon Court. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
VISITORS: Northeastern 9-10, 2-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Wilson, Javorie..... * 5-13 2-4 2-3 0 1 1 1 14 0 4 0 1 34
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... * 5-11 1-3 7-7 0 2 2 4 18 4 3 0 0 28
20 Walker, Jamaar...... * 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 5 5 3 3 1 3 0 0 25
30 Wright, Cornellius.. * 1-4 0-0 2-3 1 2 3 4 4 0 0 1 1 20
33 Robinson, Sylbrin... * 5-8 1-2 5-6 1 9 10 2 16 3 4 2 1 37
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
12 Davis, Aaron........ 3-10 1-6 0-0 2 3 5 2 7 2 1 1 1 27
15 Keys, Derrell....... 1-1 0-0 3-3 0 4 4 1 5 2 0 0 3 17
41 Drain, Adam......... 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 2 5 0 1 0 0 10
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 23-51 6-16 20-24 6 28 34 21 72 12 16 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 45.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 37.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 83.3% 2
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HOME TEAM: Boston University 11-7, 6-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 Bell, Rashad........ * 9-12 0-1 6-6 3 4 7 1 24 0 2 2 1 33
22 Carr, Chaz.......... * 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 3 1 0 0 18
30 Collins, Billy...... * 5-10 3-5 5-9 3 6 9 3 18 3 3 0 1 28
34 Turner, Matt........ * 4-15 2-9 0-1 0 4 4 1 10 4 3 0 0 33
43 Butt, Ryan.......... * 1-5 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 1 2 2 2 0 2 22
03 Fitzgerald, Kevin... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 1 2 0 1 18
05 Seymour, Paul....... 1-5 0-2 2-3 1 0 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 17
20 Wynn, Shaun......... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 7
24 Grochowalski, Jason. 2-7 1-3 2-2 1 7 8 3 7 0 0 1 0 24
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 23-59 6-20 17-23 12 24 36 22 69 13 15 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 11-31 35.5% Game: 39.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 30.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-15 73.3% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 73.9% 2
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Officials: Rick Mansur, Joe Mingle, Robert Patey
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Boston University-None.
Attendance: 1515
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 28 44 - 72
Boston University............. 38 31 - 69
Points in the paint-NU 20,BU 20. Points off turnovers-NU 10,BU 17.
2nd chance points-NU 2,BU 11. Fast break points-NU 0,BU 0.
Bench points-NU 17,BU 15. Score tied-3 times. Lead changes-9 times.
