Senior Jose Juan Barea recorded 28 points and 14 assists and organized a late Husky comeback, as Northeastern closed the game on a 18-6 run over the final 3:14 to defeat Central Connecticut 94-90 at Detrick Gymnasium.
A layup by junior Jermino Sobers at the 3:22 mark in the second half gave the Blue Devils (1-1) an eight-point advantage at 84-76. Junior Bennet Davis started the NU rally with a pair of free throws to close the CCSU advantage to 84-78. Sophomore Shawn James blocked two consecutive Blue Devil shots, and the Huskies (2-0) regained possession on a rebound by Davis. Barea, who was fouled, hit a pair of free throws, which was followed by a costly Central turnover. Barea then found junior Bobby Kelly in the open for the fast break layup, to close the gap to 84-82 with 2:04 to play. The flustered Blue Devils turned the ball over once again, and Barea tied the game on a layup with 1:52 to play.
Northeastern took the lead for good with 1:26 remaining when Barea found a streaking James for an alley oop dunk and an 87-85 advantage. The Huskies converted seven of their final 10 shots and forced five turnovers in the final 2:34 of play.
The Huskies opened the game on a cold shooting clip, missing their first six three points attempts, allowing the Blue Devils to build an early 11-4 lead, which they extended to a nine point advantage at 33-24 with 6:45 to play in the first. But the Huskies finished the first half strong, going on a 13-4 run over the next 4:03 and making seven of their final eight shots in the half and forcing five CCSU turnovers. They went into the locker room holding a 46-44 advantage at the break.
James finished the game with 12 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks, as six Husky players scored in double figures. Kelly and senior Aaron Davis each scored 14 points, while Bennet Davis recorded 11 points and junior Adrian Martinez chipped in with 10. The Huskies made 34 of 62 shots from the floor as they shot a blistering 54.8 percent from the floor on the evening to outmatch the Blue Devils fine shooting performance (34 of 71, 47.9 percent).
Senior Justin Chiera paced Central Connecticut with 23 points including four three pointers in the second half. Junior Javier Mojica scored 20 points, while junior Obie Nwadike scored 13 and grabbed nine rebounds. The Blue Devils made the most of 19 offensive rebounds, by scoring 27 second chance points to Northeastern's six.
Northeastern returns home Tuesday night to welcome neighboring Lasell College in a non-conference matchup beginning at 7 p.m. at Solomon Court.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Central Connecticut
11/19/05 8:00 p.m. at New Britain, CT Detrick Gym
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VISITORS: Northeastern 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
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... * 10-22 1-7 7-7 1 5 6 2 28 14 6 0 3 34
12 Davis, Aaron........ * 5-11 1-6 3-4 2 1 3 2 14 0 4 0 4 28
14 Davis, Bennet....... * 4-4 1-1 2-4 1 4 5 3 11 2 2 1 1 26
22 Kelly, Bobby........ * 5-9 3-6 1-2 0 2 2 1 14 1 2 0 1 30
33 Cole, Janon......... * 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 2 3 1 1 0 1 21
04 Cyprian, Chris...... 0-0 0-0 2-3 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 4
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 4-5 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 10 2 1 0 0 15
15 Farmer, Jeff........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 4
21 James, Shawn........ 5-9 0-3 2-2 2 7 9 2 12 2 0 9 0 29
25 Egemonye, Benson.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
44 Brickley, Chris..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 34-62 8-26 18-24 10 21 31 19 94 22 17 10 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-29 58.6% 2nd Half: 17-33 51.5% Game: 54.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 3-13 23.1% Game: 30.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 63.6% 2nd Half: 11-13 84.6% Game: 75.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: Central Connecticut 1-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
00 CHIERA, Justin...... * 7-14 5-10 4-4 0 4 4 1 23 9 6 0 6 37
03 WILLIAMS, John...... * 3-6 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 2 7 2 2 0 2 34
05 NWADIKE, Obie....... * 5-12 0-0 3-4 5 4 9 4 13 1 2 0 1 31
22 SOBERS, Jemino...... * 3-8 0-0 3-6 0 3 3 5 9 0 3 0 0 18
44 MOJICA, Javier...... * 9-14 1-2 1-1 1 3 4 4 20 3 4 1 0 32
11 BROWN, James........ 1-2 0-1 1-1 1 1 2 2 3 0 2 0 0 8
33 WINTERS, Chris...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 7
34 HICKENBOTTOM, Jason. 5-12 0-2 3-4 4 2 6 3 13 4 1 0 0 30
50 BEAUDET, Ingo....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 5 3 8
Totals.............. 34-71 6-15 16-22 19 22 41 21 90 20 21 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-35 48.6% 2nd Half: 17-36 47.2% Game: 47.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-12 75.0% 2nd Half: 7-10 70.0% Game: 72.7% 3
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Officials: Brian O'Connell, Jeff Bryant, Guy Pagano
Technical fouls: Northeastern-TEAM. Central Connecticut-None.
Attendance: 2028
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 46 48 - 94
Central Connecticut........... 44 46 - 90
ID-363137
