Jose Juan Barea continues to light it up against Maine, scoring 32 points Thursday night to lead the Huskies to a 99-89 Senior Day victory in front of 1,090 fans at Solomon Court.
The win clinches the No. 3 seed in the America East tournament for NU (18-10, 12-5). It is the highest seed the team has secured since it was the third seed in 1994-95. The team's 18 victories also are the most since the 1994-95 team won 18, and its 12 conference wins are the most since the 1992-93 squad captured that same number.
The turning point of the game came with just under three minutes remaining and Northeastern holding an 88-83 advantage. Bennet Davis and Maine's Mark Flavin, who led Maine with 21 points, got into a scuffle that resulted in double technical fouls. The technical was Flavin's fifth foul of the game.
From there, the Huskies took over, scoring the next five points and 11 of the game's final 17. After Davis hit one of the two resulting free throws, Barea caused a turnover and converted a layup. Davis then came up with a rejection and a layup on the other end, making it 93-83 with 1:33 remaining.
Maine (17-9, 11-6) was forced to foul, but the Huskies were up to the task, knocking down all six of their free throws in the last minute.
The Huskies shot 80 percent (16-for-20) from the charity stripe in the second half.
Barea, who is averaging 29.3 points per game in his career against Maine, tied his career high of seven three-point field goals (7-for-11) and shot 10-for-22 from the field. Barea has now scored in double figures in 30 consecutive games.
As a team, the Huskies scored a season-high 99 points, eclipsing the 98 points they scored against Suffolk. It is their most points scored since they netted 99 against Loyola on Jan. 2, 2003. The team's 13 treys match its season best.
The teams' 188 combined points is a season high in America East play.
Each team took its turn with the momentum in the first half. Flavin scored nine of the Black Bears' first 11 points, while Barea had 15 points in the first 8:40 minutes of the game.
Trailing 33-21 with 10:15 left in the half, Maine embarked on a 24-6 run that lasted almost seven minutes. Bobby Kelly's three-pointer from the corner cut Maine's lead to three, at 45-42.
The teams traded baskets -- and leads -- to close out the half. Wilson capitalized on a Black Bear turnover with a dunk to give the Huskies a 46-45 lead with 2:08 left.
Maine came right back, with Dobson converting a three-point play with 1:57 left to give his team a two-point lead at 48-46. Barea knocked down a three to put NU back up at 50-48, but Flavin hit a runner in the lane with 30 seconds left to tie it at 50-50, which is how the half ended.
Barea was 5-for-8 from three-point range in the first half and finished with 20 points. Overall, the team was 10-for-21 (48 percent) in the half from behind the arc. Maine kept pace, shooting 6-for-11 (55 percent) from downtown.
In their final home game as Huskies, Sylbrin Robinson tied his season high in points with 17 and pulled down nine rebounds while Wilson scored 18. Davis added 17 points, one short of his career high, and seven boards.
Dobson scored 20 for Maine, while Kevin Reed added 16.
The Huskies finish the regular season on the road against Albany, Sunday, Feb. 29 at 1 p.m. Their second-round America East tournament game at Boston University's Walter Brown Arena will be March 6 at either 12 p.m. or 8 p.m. The complete schedule will be available sometime next week.
VISITORS: Maine 17-9, 11-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Dobson, Eric........ * 7-12 1-3 5-5 2 1 3 1 20 8 5 0 1 36
14 Petkus, Freddy...... * 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 6
20 Flavin, Mark........ * 8-11 1-1 4-6 5 3 8 5 21 3 2 1 1 32
21 Reed, Kevin......... * 6-15 4-11 0-0 1 5 6 3 16 2 3 0 1 33
43 Markwood, Chris..... * 5-7 2-3 1-2 0 2 2 3 13 3 4 0 0 29
13 Hadjisotirov, Ludmil 4-7 2-4 0-0 2 1 3 1 10 0 2 0 0 22
23 Dubois, David....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 10
32 Campbell, Joe....... 2-7 0-2 5-5 2 3 5 5 9 0 2 0 1 32
TEAM................ 1 5 6
Totals.............. 32-62 10-25 15-18 13 21 34 21 89 16 20 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-32 56.3% 2nd Half: 14-30 46.7% Game: 51.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 4-14 28.6% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 88.9% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 83.3% 2,1
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 18-10, 12-5
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..... * 5-9 2-5 6-6 0 1 1 3 18 4 1 1 2 35
30 Wright, Cornellius.. * 1-2 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 3 2 1 0 0 0 8
32 Dunn, Jesse......... * 0-2 0-2 1-2 2 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 14
33 Robinson, Sylbrin... * 7-10 1-2 2-6 5 4 9 3 17 0 2 0 1 29
42 Melvin, Lateef...... * 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
02 Youmans, D'wan...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 3 10
03 Barnes, Marcus...... 2-10 1-6 2-2 0 3 3 3 7 2 0 0 2 30
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... 10-22 7-11 5-5 1 2 3 2 32 5 4 0 3 35
14 Davis, Bennet....... 6-9 1-1 4-6 5 2 7 3 17 2 3 2 1 26
22 Kelly, Bobby........ 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 33-69 13-30 20-27 17 18 35 18 99 15 11 3 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-40 45.0% 2nd Half: 15-29 51.7% Game: 47.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 10-21 47.6% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 43.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 16-20 80.0% Game: 74.1% 4
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Officials: Reginald Greenwood, Jeff Bryant, Thomas Fahey
Technical fouls: Maine-Flavin, Mark. Northeastern-Davis, Bennet.
Attendance: 1099
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Maine......................... 50 39 - 89
Northeastern.................. 50 49 - 99
Points in the paint-MAINE 40,NU 38. Points off turnovers-MAINE 13,NU 36.
2nd chance points-MAINE 14,NU 17. Fast break points-MAINE 5,NU 13.
Bench points-MAINE 19,NU 61. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-10 times.
Last FG-MAINE 2nd-00:55, NU 2nd-01:33.
