Junior Sylbrin Robinson's ninth double-double of the season (14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks) propelled Northeastern to a 69-54 America East victory over Albany at Solomon Court on Wednesday night.
With the win, NU improves to 15-13 overall and 8-7 in league action, while the Great Danes fall to 7-19 on the season and 3-12 in league play. The Huskies now have recorded their most wins since 1994-95 when they posted an 18-11 record and lost in the conference finals to former league opponent Drexel.
Javorie Wilson led NU with 17 points and freshman point guard Jose Juan Barea added 15 in his return to the lineup after a three-game absence due to an NCAA eligibility issue. Jesse Dunn also was back in action after sitting out since mid-January with a broken bone in his left arm.
Rhasheed Peterson scored a game-high and season-high 24 points to lead the Great Danes, who were without top scorer Jamar Wilson (strep throat) and his average of 19.2 points per game. Levi Levine netted 14 points for Albany.
NU had a 10-point lead at intermission and maintained the double-figure advantage in the second half, increasing the spread to 15 after a Barea layup made it 52-37 with 10:25 left. Albany responded with a 10-1 run as NU missed its next five shots with four turnovers to allow the Great Danes to cut the deficit to six, 53-47, with 6:27 showing. Albany got no closer though as NU scored seven straight points to create a comfortable 13-point lead, 60-47, with 3:01 left. Barea fed Robinson for a monstrous alley-oop dunk and then capped the run with a three-pointer.
After Albany neared within 10, 60-50, Robinson put an exclamation point on the win with an incredible one-handed alley-oop finish off a Barea pass with 2:02 to go. It was his third alley-oop dunk of the half from Barea and Robinson's fourth slam of the game. In all, NU outscored Albany 16-7 over the final 6:27 to secure the win.
In addition to Wilson sitting out, Albany's offense was plagued by second-leading scorer Antione Johnson's foul trouble. He picked up his second foul just 4:26 into the game and played only seven minutes in the first half. He picked up his fourth foul with 16:14 to play and finished with a mere 16 minutes of action for the night.
After the Huskies jumped out to a quick 14-7 advantage at the 13:34 mark, the Great Danes responded with a 7-0 surge to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:32 remaining in the half. Peterson scored all seven of the Great Danes' points in their early run.
With Albany leading 20-19 and 8:40 to go in the first frame of action, the Huskies reeled off a decisive 14-0 run. A pair of free throws by Wilson capped off the surge that gave the Huskies a 33-20 lead with 4:12 left. Northeastern's spurt was a team effort as five different players scored over the 4:28 span, however, the highlight of the run was a breakaway dunk by Robinson.
The Great Danes managed to cut the Huskies' lead to 10, 36-26, at the half. Wilson and Peterson were the half's leading scorers with 11 apiece to lead their respective schools.
Next up for Northeastern is its regular season finale against crosstown rival Boston University on Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m. The Huskies will honor their lone senior, Jamaar Walker, prior to Sunday's contest.
VISITORS: Albany 7-19, 3-12 AE
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
00 Johnson, Antione * 3-8 1-3 0-0 1 0 1 4 7 1 2 0 1 16
12 Opong, Earv * 1-6 0-3 0-0 0 3 3 2 2 7 4 0 2 40
32 Peterson, Rhasheed * 9-23 4-9 2-2 0 7 7 3 24 1 2 1 0 40-
34 Levine, Levi * 6-14 0-3 2-3 2 4 6 4 14 0 2 0 6 39
50 Knotts, Jerrad * 0-3 0-1 3-4 2 1 3 2 3 0 0 0 0 13
20 Pipikis, Janis 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 1 3 1 2 1 0 0 1 20
21 Wyatt, Chris 1-6 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 2 2 1 1 2 0 32
TEAM ........................................ 1 2 3 1 1
TOTALS 20-61 5-19 9-11 9 22 31 19 54 11 12 3 10 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 11-29 37.9% 2ndH: 9-32 28.1% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 32.8% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-9 22.2% 2ndH: 3-10 30.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 26.3% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 2-2 100.% 2ndH: 7-9 77.8% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 81.8% 0
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 15-13, 8-7 AE
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 * 3-11 2-8 9-10 1 8 9 2 17 2 2 1 0 35
05 Barea, Jose Juan * 5-11 2-5 3-6 3 1 4 2 15 3 5 0 1 30
20 Walker, Jamaar * 4-5 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 1 9 5 0 0 3 26
30 Wright, Cornellius * 3-4 0-0 2-2 3 5 8 5 8 1 2 1 0 21
33 Robinson, Sylbrin * 7-11 0-1 0-1 1 11 12 1 14 3 3 5 2 36
11 Martinez, Adrian 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 4
12 Davis, Aaron 1-6 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 3 0 2 1 1 21
15 Keys, Derrell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
32 Dunn, Jesse 0-4 0-3 0-0 1 2 3 0 0 1 2 1 0 20
41 Drain, Adam 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
52 Oliynyk, Gene 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM ........................................ 1 1 2 1
TOTALS 24-55 6-22 15-21 11 34 45 16 69 16 17 9 7 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 11-28 39.3% 2ndH: 13-27 48.1% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 43.6% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 4-12 33.3% 2ndH: 2-10 20.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 27.3% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 10-15 66.7% 2ndH: 5-6 83.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 71.4% 4
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OFFICIALS: Joe Mingle, Joe Vigna, Bill Laubenstein
TECHNICAL FOULS:
Albany - the bench(1)
Northeastern - none
ATTENDANCE: 633
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
Albany 26 28 54
Northeastern 36 33 69
PTS IN THE PAINT: Albany - 20 Northeastern - 36
PTS OFF TURNOVERS: Albany - 11 Northeastern - 14
2ND CHANCE POINTS: Albany - 08 Northeastern - 08
FAST BREAK POINTS: Albany - 07 Northeastern - 12
Most wins for NU since 1994-95 (18-11)
