The men's basketball team got off on the wrong foot to start the 2003-04 season as the Huskies fell to Rhode Island, 89-77, Friday night at the Ryan Center in their first of three games of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Up 47-36 at the break, URI (1-0) came out firing in the second half, out-scoring NU 19-4 in the first 6:35 to widen the margin to a game-high 26, at 66-40. The Huskies went five minutes without scoring, a drought ended by a sophomore Jose Juan Barea's three-pointer.
NU (0-1) refused to die, whittling the deficit to 12, at 75-63, after a Sylbrin Robinson tip-in with 6:55 left, but that was as close as they got.
Rhose Island led 33-18 with just under seven minutes left in the first half, but Northeastern went on an 11-0 run to climb within four, at 33-29, with 5:20 left. The Rams, however, scored the next nine points to go up 42-29.
Junior Marcus Barnes scored a team-high 20 points in his Husky regular-season debut, but he was 6-of-18 from the floor. Barea, who also made just six of his 18 field-goaL attempts, and senior Javorie Wilson each scored 17 while senior Sylbrin Robinson added 14 and pulled down eight boards.
URI had five players in double figures, led by Dustin Hellenga's 20.
The Rams dominated on the boards, out-rebounding the Huskies, 51-30. The teams shot nearly identical percentages from the floor (44 for URI, 43.1 for NU), but Rhode Island attempted 17 more shots. It also had a decided advantage in points in the paint (48-28), fast-break points (21-8) and bench points (21-4).
Northeastern next plays at Bradley on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. in another Las Vegas Invitational contest.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Rhode Island
11/21/03 7:30 p.m. at Kingston, R.I. - The Ryan Center
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VISITORS: Northeastern 0-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 BAREA, Jose Juan.... f 6-18 4-9 1-5 1 1 2 4 17 4 6 0 2 32
33 ROBINSON, Sylbrin... f 5-8 0-2 4-5 3 5 8 3 14 1 7 1 2 37
30 WRIGHT, Cornelius... c 2-2 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 4 5 0 0 0 0 12
03 BARNES, Marcus...... g 6-18 3-12 5-5 0 3 3 2 20 3 4 0 0 35
04 WILSON, Javorie..... g 4-6 3-4 6-8 1 3 4 4 17 2 5 1 1 31
02 YOUMANS, D'WAN...... 2-4 0-1 0-0 2 0 2 5 4 1 0 1 2 22
14 DAVIS, Bennet....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 1 0 1 0 0 1 10
21 DRAIN, Adam......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
22 KELLY, Bobby........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
32 DUNN, Jesse......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 11
52 OLIYNYK, Gene....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 6
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 25-58 10-28 17-25 8 22 30 27 77 12 23 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7% 2nd Half: 15-34 44.1% Game: 43.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 6-16 37.5% Game: 35.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-15 80.0% 2nd Half: 5-10 50.0% Game: 68.0% 3,3
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HOME TEAM: Rhode Island 1-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 MACK, Terrence...... f 4-8 0-0 2-5 2 1 3 3 10 0 2 0 0 17
24 HELLENGA, Dustin.... f 7-14 3-7 3-4 2 2 4 2 20 0 3 0 1 28
42 MOMPLAISIR, Marcel.. c 2-6 0-0 2-3 3 3 6 4 6 2 0 2 1 24
05 ROBINSON, Dawan..... g 6-15 0-3 4-7 0 6 6 3 16 8 4 0 2 30
20 WOODWARD, Brian..... g 6-13 0-2 4-5 1 1 2 4 16 4 1 1 2 31
11 MELLO, Steve........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 9
12 BROOKS, Randy....... 3-8 1-1 2-2 2 4 6 0 9 2 4 0 0 20
13 MOORE, J.R.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3
15 BEHRENS, Tom........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
32 WISE, Jamaal........ 4-8 0-0 2-2 6 2 8 2 10 2 2 0 1 25
44 CLARK, Jon.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 7 8 3 0 0 1 0 0 11
50 KALAPOS, Jeff....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 5 1 6
Totals.............. 33-75 4-13 19-28 22 29 51 23 89 19 17 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-42 45.2% 2nd Half: 14-33 42.4% Game: 44.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 30.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 14-21 66.7% Game: 67.9% 4,1
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Officials: Kevin O'Connell, Eric Britto, Joe Pescitelli
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Rhode Island-None.
Attendance: 5685
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 36 41 - 77
Rhode Island.................. 47 42 - 89
Points in the paint-HUSKIES 28,URI 48. Points off turnovers-HUSKIES 17,URI 28.
2nd chance points-HUSKIES 11,URI 22. Fast break points-HUSKIES 8,URI 21.
Bench points-HUSKIES 4,URI 21. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-HUSKIES 2nd-00:30, URI 2nd-03:17.
