Northeastern jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first half, but defending America East champion Boston University rallied for a 71-61 win in the semifinals of the 2003 conference tournament at Walter Brown Arena on Monday.
NU built a quick 28-14 edge before the Terriers started chipping away at the deficit. NU was hampered by the foul trouble of Sylbrin Robinson, who played just three minutes of the first half and did not score before the break. He ended the game with two points and one rebound before fouling out with under a minute left.
The Huskies' other All-Conference players, Javorie Wilson (13 points) and Jose Juan Barea (11 points), also didn't have their usual effectiveness. Wilson finished 4-15 from the floor (1-8 from three-point range) and Barea was 3-12 (2-8). Jason Grochowalski led BU with 22 points and Rashad Bell had 12.
The game was intense from the start and the Huskies came out of the gates a little too aggressive. Robinson picked up his first foul, away from the ball, just 17 seconds into the game and then his second came at the 18:52 mark. Despite two quick fouls on Robinson, NU jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the 17:25 mark.
Both teams would play nearly even for the next seven minutes as the score was 15-12 with 10:03 left to play in the half. Northeastern then reeled off a 13-2 run to take a game-high 14-point lead, 28-14, at the 6:51 mark. Aaron Davis was the catalyst of the NU run as he had five points, including a three-pointer that started the spurt.
The Terriers responded to the NU surge, however, with a 17-7 run that cut the Husky lead to four, 35-31, at intermission.
Northeastern clung to its halftime advantage for the first five minutes of the second frame of action as the Huskies led 41-36 with 15:08 left in the game. BU then rattled off a 7-0 run that gave the top-seeded Terriers their first lead of the game, 43-41, at 13:37. During the BU spurt, Barea picked up his third and fourth fouls, as did backup center Gene Oliynyk, while Robinson was whistled for his third. The Terriers would not trail again.
Northeastern would tie the game twice after BU's 7-0 run, the last time coming at the 10:57 mark with the score knotted at 47-47, but the Huskies would not lead again. NU later trailed by just one, 52-51, with 7:14 left in the game, but the Terriers proved to be too much to handle down the stretch.
BU closed out the game on a 19-10 run to give the game its final 71-61 margin. For the game NU committed 30 personal fouls, compared to 22 by the Terriers. Robinson and Wright both fouled out for NU, while Barea, Oliynyk and senior Jamaar Walker all finished with four fouls.
Playing in his final game for the Huskies, Walker scored five points (5-5 from the line), dished out two assists and tallied two steals.
Northeastern's final record of 16-15 is a nine-game improvement in the win column from last season's 7-21 mark. It was also the best season for NU since the team went 18-11 in the 1994-95 season.
VISITORS: #5 Northeastern 16-15, 8-8 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 * 4-15 1-8 4-5 3 3 6 3 13 2 2 0 0 38
05 Barea, Jose Juan * 3-12 2-8 3-6 1 5 6 4 11 3 2 0 0 29
12 Davis, Aaron * 2-8 1-5 2-2 1 3 4 2 7 1 1 1 2 28
30 Wright, Cornellius * 5-8 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 5 11 0 1 1 1 21
33 Robinson, Sylbrin * 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 2 0 2 0 1 20
11 Martinez, Adrian 2-7 1-6 2-2 1 1 2 1 7 1 0 0 0 14
15 Keys, Derrell 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 2 1 3 2 0 1 18
20 Walker, Jamaar 0-0 0-0 5-5 0 0 0 4 5 2 3 0 2 17
32 Dunn, Jesse 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
52 Oliynyk, Gene 2-3 0-0 0-1 3 2 5 4 4 0 1 0 0 14
TEAM ........................................ 2 0 2
TOTALS 19-56 5-27 18-25 14 20 34 30 61 12 14 2 7 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 13-32 40.6% 2ndH: 6-24 25.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 33.9% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 3-14 21.4% 2ndH: 2-13 15.4% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 18.5% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 6-10 60.0% 2ndH: 12-15 80.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 72.0% 4
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HOME TEAM: #1 Boston University 20-9, 13-3 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
03 Fitzgerald, Kevin * 1-2 0-0 1-3 0 2 2 0 3 2 2 0 0 26
05 Seymour, Paul * 1-8 1-4 2-2 1 2 3 2 5 0 3 0 3 21
13 Bell, Rashad * 2-6 0-2 8-9 2 3 5 1 12 2 3 3 0 29
30 Collins, Billy * 4-7 0-1 0-0 2 5 7 3 8 4 0 0 0 32
43 Butt, Ryan * 1-4 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 3 3 0 0 0 1 17
20 Wynn, Shaun 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
22 Carr, Chaz 3-7 2-2 5-8 1 1 2 4 13 0 3 0 1 26
23 Kudlacz, Jacob 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+
24 Grochowalski, Jason 5-8 2-4 10-10 0 8 8 2 22 0 0 0 0 26
31 Gardner, Kevin 0-2 0-0 1-2 3 1 4 2 1 1 1 2 0 5
34 Turner, Matt 2-4 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 4 4 1 3 0 1 14
55 Czaplinski, Matt 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM ........................................ 2 0 2
TOTALS 19-49 5-15 28-36 13 26 39 22 71 10 15 5 6 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 10-27 37.0% 2ndH: 9-22 40.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 38.8% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-9 22.2% 2ndH: 3-6 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 33.3% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 9-11 81.8% 2ndH: 19-25 76.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 77.8% 5
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OFFICIALS: Fran Connolly, Bill Laubenstein, Ray Perrone
TECHNICAL FOULS:
#5 Northeastern - Barea, Jose Jua(1) Davis, Aaron(1) the bench(1)
#1 Boston University - Grochowalski, J(1) Turner, Matt(1)
ATTENDANCE: TBA
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
#5 Northeastern 35 26 61
#1 Boston University 31 40 71
PTS IN THE PAINT: #5 Northeastern - 26 #1 Boston University - 16
PTS OFF TURNOVERS: #5 Northeastern - 09 #1 Boston University - 11
2ND CHANCE POINTS: #5 Northeastern - 22 #1 Boston University - 12
FAST BREAK POINTS: #5 Northeastern - 07 #1 Boston University - 04
