Senior Jose Juan Barea scored 22 points and dished nine assists to lead Northeastern to a 67-53 victory over Brown in the opening round of the Mohegan Sun Classic in New Britain, Conn. The win is the Huskies' first season-opening victory in the past seven years.
Barea's three-pointer at 15:12 helped the Huskies (1-0) jump out to a 15-2 lead over the Bears (0-1). Junior Bennet Davis started the early run with the game's opening five points. From that point, Northeastern would extend its lead to 13 points on two occasions during the first period, while Brown was never able to close the margin to less than 10. Barea led the way with 13 first half points, while Davis added six rebounds.
In the second half, the Huskies extended their lead to 21 points just 4:48 into the half on 60% shooting from the floor. Sophomore Shawn James, limited to only four minutes in the first half with a pair of fouls, came out strong, with five of his six points during the run. Senior Aaron Davis also added five points during the run.
However, the Bears would whittle the Husky margin to just eight points, outscoring the visitors 23-10 over the next 10:05 closing the Husky lead to 61-53. Sophomore Damon Huffman led the run with eight straight points at one point for Brown. The eight point deficit would be as close as Brown would draw, as Northeastern sealed the contest on a 6-0 run to account for the game's final score.
Barea finished the night just one assist and two rebounds shy of his first triple-double, while Bennet Davis finished the night with five points and 10 rebounds. Senior Janon Cole turned in nine second half points, while Aaron Davis chipped in with eight points and three boards. The Huskies shot 41.9% from the floor on the night, which included a 13-for-28 effort (46.4%) in the second half.
For the Bears, senior Luke Roscoe led the way with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Huffman finished with 10 points and five boards. Brown shot 17 for 53 (32.1%) from the floor on the night but just four of 21 from three-point range on the game.
Northeastern returns to action tomorrow night to face Central Connecticut in round two of the Mohegan Sun Classic in New Britain, Conn. The game tips off at 8 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Brown
11/18/05 6:00 p.m. at New Britain, CT Detrick Gym
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VISITORS: Northeastern 1-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Jose Juan Barea..... * 8-19 3-9 3-4 0 8 8 3 22 9 1 0 2 34
12 Aaron Davis......... * 3-8 1-6 1-1 1 2 3 1 8 0 0 0 0 27
14 Bennet Davis........ * 2-7 1-2 0-0 4 6 10 1 5 0 1 1 1 26
21 Shawn James......... * 2-4 0-0 2-3 1 3 4 4 6 0 1 2 0 14
22 Bobby Kelly......... * 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 4 3 1 0 0 21
04 Chris Cyprian....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 10
11 Adrian Martinez..... 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 5 0 3 0 0 13
15 Jeff Farmer......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 12
25 Benson Egemonye..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 2 0 6
33 Janon Cole.......... 3-9 0-0 3-3 1 5 6 3 9 1 1 0 0 20
44 Chris Brickley...... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5
50 Mark Washington..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 12
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 26-62 6-23 9-11 11 27 38 20 67 14 11 5 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-34 38.2% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% Game: 41.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-15 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 26.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% Game: 81.8% 1
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HOME TEAM: Brown 0-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Ruscoe, Luke........ * 5-9 1-3 0-0 3 7 10 0 11 2 2 2 1 31
20 Huffman, Damon...... * 3-9 2-5 2-2 0 5 5 5 10 4 2 0 1 33
24 Becker, Marcus...... * 1-3 0-2 2-2 1 4 5 3 4 2 1 0 1 32
35 MacDonald, Mark..... * 3-8 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 1 7 1 1 0 0 23
55 Manhanga, Sam....... * 2-6 0-1 4-6 1 3 4 0 8 0 0 0 0 18
04 Jeppesen, Keenan.... 1-4 0-1 3-6 3 3 6 2 5 1 1 0 0 18
05 Friske, Scott....... 1-3 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 2 4 0 4 0 0 17
10 Daniels, James...... 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 11
22 Skrelja, Chris...... 1-6 0-4 2-2 0 0 0 0 4 2 1 0 0 13
32 Eads, Nathan........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 4
TEAM................ 3 3 1
Totals.............. 17-53 4-21 15-20 12 27 39 16 53 12 15 3 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-24 29.2% 2nd Half: 10-29 34.5% Game: 32.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-8 12.5% 2nd Half: 3-13 23.1% Game: 19.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% Game: 75.0% 2
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Officials: Robert Adams, Joseph Battiato, James Luchansky
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Brown-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 32 35 - 67
Brown......................... 22 31 - 53
ID-352454
