Junior guard Jose Juan Barea scored at least 30 points for the second straight game, freshman forward Shawn James set a school record for blocks in his collegiate debut, but Harvard used an 18-6 closing run to claim an 85-75 win Saturday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.
The Huskies (1-2) took their final lead of the game at 69-67 on a three-point play by James with 4:45 remaining, but the Crimson wrapped up the win by out-scoring NU 18-6 the rest of the way.
The key Harvard baskets were three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Kevin Rogus, which increased the lead from 73-71 to 79-71 with 1:40 left. That was followed by a Matt Stehle putback of a Rogus miss with 50 seconds on the clock. Stehle had 14 points, while Rogus finished with 12.
James was huge in his first college game, scoring 18 points, ripping down eight rebounds, and blocking a school-record seven shots. The previous mark was six, set by Changa Adams against Vermont on Jan, 24, 1999.
Down 42-34 at the half, Northeastern stormed out of the locker room on a 10-2 run, tying the game at 44-44 on a Bennet Davis jumper from the elbow. Barea had five points in that stretch on a transition layup and a deep three. He finished with 30 points (11-of-23) and seven assists.
Harvard (1-2) countered with six straight points, the first four on two Brian Cusworth layups and the last two on a breakaway layup by Jason Norman. Cusworth, a seven-foot sophomore, paced the Crimson with 20 points. Harvard used its marked size advantage to out-score Northeastern, 44-20, in the paint.
Davis again tied the game for Northeastern, this time at 56-56 on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 11:24 to play.
Jim Goffredo's trey put Harvard up 61-56, but the Huskies scored the next seven points to take their first lead of the game, 63-61, with 8:09 left. The last two points came on a short bank shot by junior forward Janon Cole.
On the strength of a pair of Rogus threes, Harvard jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game.
Barea scored the first seven points for Northeastern, meaning the Huskies' last 21 points came courtesy of the six-foot junior. Barea scored the team's last 14 points in an 88-85 win over Cornell Nov. 20.
Harvard took its largest lead of the first half at 35-26 on Graham Beatty's putback with 5:02 remaining. A James bucket narrowed it to 35-28, but Cusworth's layup on an inbounds play pushed the Crimson bulge back to nine.
Harvard ran an inbounds play with 3.5 seconds left in the half, but was called for a double dribble. However, the clock never started, so the Crimson was given the ball with 1.5 seconds left, and Zach Martin canned a three at the buzzer.
The Huskies head to Amherst, Mass., to take on Massachusetts Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Harvard
11/27/04 2:00 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion, Cambridge, Mass.
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VISITORS: Northeastern 1-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Davis, Bennet....... f 4-7 3-4 0-0 1 2 3 4 11 0 2 0 1 21
33 Cole, Janon......... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 2 2 0 2 0 1 23
12 Davis, Aaron........ g 4-12 1-6 0-0 1 3 4 0 9 3 3 0 1 37
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 28
5 Barea, Jose Juan.... g 11-23 6-12 2-2 0 2 2 3 30 7 9 0 2 34
10 Kirkland, Jerome.... 1-4 0-0 1-2 1 0 1 5 3 1 2 0 1 10
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 11
21 James, Shawn........ 7-10 1-2 3-6 3 5 8 1 18 0 0 7 0 28
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 29-64 11-27 6-10 11 20 31 16 75 14 18 7 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9% 2nd Half: 16-33 48.5% Game: 45.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 6-14 42.9% Game: 40.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 3-3 100 % Game: 60.0% 1
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HOME TEAM: Harvard 1-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 Stehle, Matt........ f 7-10 0-0 0-0 4 5 9 2 14 3 2 0 1 25
32 Norman, Jason....... f 3-7 0-1 0-0 1 4 5 2 6 3 1 0 3 29
50 Cusworth, Brian..... c 9-20 0-0 2-2 4 9 13 2 20 0 3 1 1 34
13 Rogus, Kevin........ g 4-9 4-7 0-0 0 1 1 1 12 3 0 0 1 27
25 Giovacchini, David.. g 3-4 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 9 5 4 0 1 24
12 Goffredo, Jim....... 3-8 3-7 0-0 1 1 2 2 9 1 2 0 1 17
23 Beal, Michael....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 3 2 0 0 16
24 Klunick, Tyler...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 8
33 Martin, Zach........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1
40 McCrone, Luke....... 1-2 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 1 8
44 Beatty, Graham...... 3-7 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 6 0 2 0 0 11
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 35-70 9-17 6-6 15 27 42 14 85 20 18 1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-36 47.2% 2nd Half: 18-34 52.9% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-12 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 52.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 4-4 100 % Game: 100 % 0
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Officials: Gary Pucino, Alan Libardoni and Tim O'Brien
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Harvard-Cusworth, Brian.
Attendance: 1050
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 34 41 - 75
Harvard....................... 42 43 - 85
Points in the paint-NU 20,HARV 44. Points off turnovers-NU 20,HARV 26.
2nd chance points-NU 6,HARV 10. Fast break points-NU 11,HARV 4.
Bench points-NU 23,HARV 24. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-4 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-00:24, HARV 2nd-00:50.
