The men's basketball team fell behind big in the first half but battled back in the second before succumbing to Villanova, 74-55, Friday night before a sellout crowd at The Pavilion. Down 34-21 at the break, the Huskies (3-4) came out of the locker room fired up, cutting the deficit to seven at 41-34 after a Barnes free throw with 14:30 left. The 'Cats (6-2) then went on a 13-4 run over the next five minutes to widen their lead to 54-38 with 9:27 left to play, and the outcome was never in doubt after that.
The story of the night was Curtis Sumpter, who had a season-high 19 points at the half and finished with a career-high 38. He scored 13 of Villanova's first 15 points, the last nine coming on a trio of 3-pointers. His third bomb started a 14-0 'Nova run, which gave it a 24-7 advantage with 7:47 remaining in the half.
For the second game in a row, Northeastern suffered through an extended scoring drought. The Huskies went without a point for a stretch of almost eight minutes, from Cornellius Wright's three-point play with 14:06 left in the first half until Bobby Kelly's jumper with 6:10 showing on the clock.
NU went on a mini-run at the end of the half, as Adam Drain sunk two threes and Jesse Dunn and Sylbrin Robinson each hit one to make it a 34-21 game at intermission.
The Huskies didn't help themselves at the free-throw line, from where they shot 39 percent (9-of-23). They were led by Marcus Barnes' 16, but that came on 4-of-20 shooting.
The Huskies return home to play Marist in a 4:30 p.m. game on Sunday, Dec. 14 at Matthews Arena.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
NU vs Villanova Wildcats
12/12/03 7:30 pm at Villanova, Pa. - The Pavilion
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VISITORS: NU 3-4
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..... f 2-6 1-4 0-0 2 0 2 4 5 1 2 1 0 18
33 Robinson, Sylbrin... f 1-5 1-1 2-9 4 5 9 2 5 1 3 1 0 34
30 Wright, Cornellius.. c 3-5 0-0 1-1 1 1 2 2 7 0 0 0 1 18
02 Youmans, D'wan...... g 1-4 0-3 1-2 1 2 3 1 3 0 0 0 1 18
03 Barnes, Marcus...... g 4-20 3-7 5-8 0 3 3 1 16 2 4 0 2 39
14 Davis, Bennet....... 2-6 0-1 0-2 3 3 6 4 4 0 5 0 4 25
21 Drain, Adam......... 3-3 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 8 3 0 0 1 19
22 Kelly, Bobby........ 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 14
32 Dunn, Jesse......... 2-5 1-2 0-1 0 1 1 3 5 1 1 0 0 14
42 Melvin, Lateef...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
TEAM................ 6 2 8 2
Totals.............. 19-56 8-21 9-23 17 19 36 18 55 9 19 2 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-28 28.6% 2nd Half: 11-28 39.3% Game: 33.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 38.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-21 38.1% Game: 39.1% 4
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HOME TEAM: Villanova Wildcats 6-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 Sumpter, Curtis..... f 16-20 3-5 4-4 4 5 9 0 39 0 1 0 2 36
21 Charles, Chris...... c 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 0 0 0 3 0 16
02 Foye, Randy......... g 3-9 1-4 2-2 0 2 2 5 9 6 5 0 2 33
12 Nardi, Mike......... g 2-8 1-4 0-0 0 6 6 2 5 7 6 0 2 31
14 Ray, Allan.......... g 4-10 1-6 0-0 0 1 1 4 9 6 3 0 0 32
01 Bloch, Andreas...... 1-3 1-3 0-1 1 0 1 1 3 1 1 0 0 14
04 Condon, Ross........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
05 Claxton, Michael.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1
10 Grace, Tom.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 Fraser, Jason....... 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 9
22 Dunleavy, Baker..... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
50 Sheridan, Will...... 3-3 0-0 1-2 3 5 8 3 7 2 0 3 1 25
TEAM................ 1 4 5
Totals.............. 29-57 7-22 9-13 12 30 42 20 74 22 18 8 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-29 48.3% 2nd Half: 15-28 53.6% Game: 50.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 31.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 7-8 87.5% Game: 69.2% 1
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Officials: Joe Lindsay, Patrick Driscoll, Jeff Clark
Technical fouls: NU-None. Villanova Wildcats-None.
Attendance: 6500
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
NU............................ 21 34 - 55
Villanova Wildcats............ 34 40 - 74
ID-229731
SUMPTER CAREER HIGH POINTS
