Northeastern shot a sizzling 64 percent in the second half, and junior guard Jose Juan Barea scored 24 of his game-high 28 points after the break as the Huskies defeated Binghamton, 75-68, Sunday afternoon at Solomon Court.
NU (6-5, 2-0 America East) was cold from the floor in the first half, shooting just 33 percent (10-for-30), but it caught fire after intermission, when it went 16-for-25 from the field, including 6-for-6 in the final 4:45.
The Huskies trailed 56-49 with 6:43 to play, but a layup and three-pointer by senior guard Marcus Barnes pulled them within two. Andre Heard gave his team a little breathing room, hitting a jumper to extend the lead to four. Heard led the Bearcats (3-8, 0-2) with 27 points, all in the second half.
Barea then took matters into his own hands, scoring 12 straight NU points in a span of 2:16, after which Northeastern led 66-65 with 2:29 left. His points came on a four-point play, two threes and a jump shot.
Heard sunk two foul shots with 2:15 remaining to give his team a 67-66 lead, but Barea found sophomore Bennet Davis under the hoop for a layup on NU's next possession. Davis was fouled on the play and hit the ensuing free throw to put the Huskies up 69-67, and they never trailed after that.
Barea had a game-high seven assists and six rebounds to go with his 28 points. Barnes scored a season-high 25, while Davis just missed a double-double, with a season-high 15 points and nine rebounds.
Alex Adediran was the only other Bearcat in double figures, finishing with 16 points.
The game was closely contested throughout, with 10 ties and 10 lead changes. Binghamton's biggest lead was eight, which it achieved three times in the first half. NU's largest advantage was the seven points by which it won.
The Huskies host Vermont Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Binghamton vs Northeastern
01/02/05 1:00 pm at Solomon Court (Boston, Mass.)
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VISITORS: Binghamton 3-8, 0-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Hermenier, Sebastian * 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 5 2 1 3 0 0 22
22 Hailey, Troy........ * 2-5 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 5 5 2 4 0 2 22
23 Heard, Andre........ * 9-22 3-8 6-6 1 2 3 2 27 1 1 0 4 39
24 Williams, Billy..... * 4-12 0-4 1-3 2 3 5 3 9 6 1 0 3 36
33 Adediran, Alex...... * 7-9 0-0 2-4 3 4 7 2 16 0 1 1 0 29
02 Jackson, Schafer.... 1-5 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 12
05 Gordon, Mike........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 Casseus, Joel....... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
32 White, Joe.......... 0-3 0-2 2-2 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 7
34 Fithian, Jordan..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 5 2 1 1 1 0 18
50 Billings, Nick...... 1-5 0-0 0-1 5 2 7 2 2 0 3 0 0 10
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 26-63 5-20 11-18 14 22 36 24 68 11 14 2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 14-35 40.0% Game: 41.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 7-8 87.5% Game: 61.1% 1
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 6-5, 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 Barnes, Marcus...... * 10-19 2-7 3-3 1 3 4 3 25 1 2 0 3 31
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... * 8-15 4-7 8-12 2 4 6 4 28 7 8 0 3 35
14 Davis, Bennet....... * 6-9 1-2 2-4 4 5 9 2 15 1 4 2 1 38
21 James, Shawn........ * 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 4 0 0 0 4 0 13
22 Kelly, Bobby........ * 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 20
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7
12 Davis, Aaron........ 1-4 0-3 1-2 1 6 7 1 3 1 1 0 0 27
33 Cole, Janon......... 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 0 1 1 0 19
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 10
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 26-55 7-22 16-25 10 29 39 18 75 11 17 7 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 16-25 64.0% Game: 47.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-13 15.4% 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 31.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0% 2nd Half: 8-15 53.3% Game: 64.0% 6
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Officials: Fran Connolly, Ray Perone, Michael Stephens
Technical fouls: Binghamton-None. Northeastern-Barea, Jose Juan.
Attendance: 969
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Binghamton.................... 30 38 - 68
Northeastern.................. 30 45 - 75
Points in the paint-BING 26,NU 26. Points off turnovers-BING 21,NU 19.
2nd chance points-BING 8,NU 10. Fast break points-BING 4,NU 14.
Bench points-BING 9,NU 4. Score tied-10 times. Lead changed-10 times.
Last FG-BING 2nd-03:17, NU 2nd-01:19.
