Freshman Jose Juan Barea made a three-pointer with eight tenths of a second left to break a 68-68 tie and complete a Northeastern playoff-record 38-point performance, leading the fifth-seeded Huskies to a 71-68 win over fourth seed Maine in the quarterfinals of the America East Championship at Walter Brown Arena on Sunday.
The Huskies advance to Monday night's semifinals when they will play at 7 p.m. against top seed Boston University, 75-61 winners over eighth seed New Hampshire in Sunday's first quarterfinal. NU now stands 16-14 on the season. Barea's point total eclipsed Reggie Lewis's previous NU postseason mark of 35 points set against Oklahoma in the 1986 NCAA Tournament.
The win over Maine avenged two regular-season losses to the Black Bears, 90-76 at Solomon Court on Jan. 15 and 75-55 at Orono on Feb. 12.
NU trailed 66-64 when Barea was fouled with 53 seconds left and made both free throws to tie the game. Maine inbounded the ball to Kevin Reed, who threw a pass that was intercepted by NU's Jamaar Walker. NU called timeout with 43 seconds left and Coach Ron Everhart set up an alley-oop play that Barea executed perfectly to Sylbrin Robinson (14 points, 14 rebounds). Robinson slammed it home to give the Huskies a two-point edge with 31 seconds showing.
Eric Dobson answered with a driving bankshot at the 11-second mark, tying the game again and setting the stage for Barea's dramatic three-pointer. After NU's last timeout, Barea brought the ball up the court defended by Dobson and got a shot off from about three feet beyond the arc.
"The key to the game was execution," Coach Everhart said. "We executed our dunk play lob and then we had a play set up at the end that didn't quite work out right, but it went in, so we'll take it. That was an exciting win, but we can't take too long to enjoy it. We've got to get ready for BU."
Clayton Brown led Maine with 14 points, while Rickey White netted 12 and Justin Rowe 11. Rowe added 11 boards and six blocks. With Barea and Robinson combining for 52 points, NU had just three other players score as Javorie Wilson contributed eight points, Cornellius Wright seven and Walker four.
The game was very tight throughout. NU expanded a three-point halftime edge to a game-high seven, 50-43, after a Barea three-pointer with 13:37 to go. Maine came right back with an 8-2 surge to trim the Husky advantage to one, 52-51, with 10:21 to go. There were six lead changes and four ties the rest of the way as the teams exchanged baskets.
It appeared Maine might pull it out as the Bears held a 66-64 lead and Rowe rebounded a miss of an Aaron Davis shot with 1:20 left. Reed then had the first of two costly turnovers as his pass was tipped by Cornellius Wright and into the hands of Barea, who was fouled a tied the game at the line.
Northeastern took a slim 39-36 lead to the lockerroom courtesy of an impressive 20 points from Barea in the first frame of action. Barea was 7-11 from the field and 5-6 from the line to pace all scorers through the first 20 minutes of play.
Maine was led by Clayton Brown's eight points, while Justin Rowe was 3-3 from the field for six points in just 11 minutes of action after picking up his second foul at the 8:46 mark and sitting the rest of the half.
The Black Bears jumped out to a quick eight-point lead, 10-2, with 17:43 left in the half. Northeastern raced back with a 15-2 run to take a 17-12 lead at the 11:12 mark.
Maine trimmed NU's lead to three, 17-14, when Rowe picked up his first foul of the half at 9:53. He would soon pick up his second foul at the 8:46 mark and remained on the bench for the rest of the half. The Huskies, however, were not able to capitalize on Maine's absence of its inside threat as NU led by three when Rowe exited the game and three at the half.
Barea was able to attack the basket and get to the rim at will in the first half. Barea was involved in 13 of NU's final 14 points of the half, as he scored eight and assisted on five other points.
Barea was asked if his runner-up finish for the America East Rookie of the Year Award (to Albany's Jamar Wilson) influenced his game.
"I really wanted that award, but it didn't affect my game," Barea said. "I was playing well and feeling good out there, so I kept shooting." "This is a team of leaders," said Robinson, who recorded his team-high 10th double-double. "Anyone on our team can step up and be a leader, that's why I feel good about the game with BU. We're excited about the chance."
VISITORS: #5 Northeastern 16-14, 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 * 2-9 1-4 3-4 0 5 5 5 8 3 3 0 1 33
05 Barea, Jose Juan * 12-26 5-12 9-10 1 0 1 2 38 4 2 0 0 37
12 Davis, Aaron * 0-4 0-2 0-0 1 4 5 0 0 0 2 0 1 36
30 Wright, Cornellius * 2-5 0-0 3-4 3 3 6 4 7 0 3 1 2 18
33 Robinson, Sylbrin * 7-10 0-0 0-5 7 7 14 1 14 0 1 3 2 39
15 Keys, Derrell 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 16
20 Walker, Jamaar 2-3 0-0 0-3 2 2 4 3 4 2 1 0 1 13
32 Dunn, Jesse 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
52 Oliynyk, Gene 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 6
TEAM ........................................ 2 0 2
TOTALS 25-60 6-18 15-26 16 24 40 20 71 11 12 4 8 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 14-28 50.0% 2ndH: 11-32 34.4% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 41.7% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 2-6 33.3% 2ndH: 4-12 33.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 33.3% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 9-12 75.0% 2ndH: 6-14 42.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 57.7% 7
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HOME TEAM: #4 Maine 14-16, 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
21 Reed, Kevin * 1-3 1-3 2-2 0 3 3 2 5 0 4 1 1 28
35 Jackson, Derrick * 2-6 0-1 1-1 0 4 4 2 5 3 1 1 1 31
40 Brown, Clayton * 6-15 1-3 1-2 3 0 3 4 14 1 1 0 1 23
43 White, Rickey * 6-10 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 3 12 3 3 0 3 37
44 Rowe, Justin * 5-7 0-0 1-4 3 8 11 3 11 1 1 6 0 28
12 Dobson, Eric 2-8 0-0 2-4 2 3 5 3 6 6 4 0 3 22
13 Hadjisatirov, Ludmil 3-5 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 7 1 1 0 0 15
14 Petkus, Freddy 1-2 1-2 2-3 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 13
22 Hill, Thomas 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM ........................................ 1 1 2
TOTALS 27-57 5-12 9-16 11 22 33 21 68 15 15 8 9 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 14-30 46.7% 2ndH: 13-27 48.1% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 47.4% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 4-10 40.0% 2ndH: 1-2 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 41.7% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 4-7 57.1% 2ndH: 5-9 55.6% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 56.3% 2, 1
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OFFICIALS: Rich Giallella, Ben Vasconcells, Tim O'Brien
TECHNICAL FOULS:
#5 Northeastern - none
#4 Maine - none
ATTENDANCE: 1558
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
#5 Northeastern 39 32 71
#4 Maine 36 32 68
PTS IN THE PAINT: #5 Northeastern - 34 #4 Maine - 38
PTS OFF TURNOVERS: #5 Northeastern - 17 #4 Maine - 12
2ND CHANCE POINTS: #5 Northeastern - 06 #4 Maine - 08
FAST BREAK POINTS: #5 Northeastern - 09 #4 Maine - 06
2003 Choice Hotels International America East Championship
Quarterfinal #2...Barea fourth-highest point total in AE Championship history
Barea most points ever in a postseason game by a Northeastern player...old
record Reggie Lewis 35 vs. Oklahoma 3/13/86
