With the game tied at 44, TJ Carter drove to the foul line and hit a pull-up jumper as time expired to give UNC Wilmington a 46-44 CAA victory before a sold-out and rowdy 6,100 fans at Trask Coliseum on Saturday night.
Carter scored nine of his game-high 11 points in the second half to help the Seahawks (16-6, 9-2 CAA) overcome a nine-point halftime deficit in a game marked by defense. The Huskies (11-8, 7-4 CAA) held UNC Wilmington to just 9-of-34 shooting (28.4 percent) and 2-of-23 from behind the arc (8.7 percent), but the Seahawks answered by forcing 19 Husky-turnovers, while committing just seven (two in the second half). Senior Jose Juan Barea, the Huskies leading scorer, was held to a career-low five points on 2-of-12 shooting, while UNCW's leading scorer, John Goldsberry, had a similar offensive evening, hitting just 1-of-13 shots for seven points. Each point guard collected seven assists.
Northeastern trailed 12-9 with 7:35 to play in the first, before junior Adrian Martinez nailed three straight 3-pointers. Martinez' streak was a part of an 13-2 run by the Huskies. Wilmington answered with four points, before a 7-0 closing run by Northeastern sent the Huskies to the locker room with a nine-point advantage.
After the break, the Seahawks slowly chipped away at Northeastern's lead until Carter's jumper at 9:41 gave UNCW a 35-34 advantage. From that point, Wilmington's lead remained within three points. The Seahawks led 42-40 with 0:30 to play when Barea drove the lane and picked up the foul for two shots. He converted the tail end to cut the lead to just one. At the other end, Daniel Fountain drew a foul from Bobby Kelly and nailed both free throws to extend the Seahawk lead to 44-41 with 0:16 on the clock. But the Huskies had the answer, as Barea penetrated and kicked the ball out to Kelly who drilled a three to square the game at 44 with 0:10 before Carter's heroics.
Northeastern did not register a player in double digits, as Martinez led the way with nine points. Shawn James scored seven with 11 rebounds and five blocks, while Janon Cole scored five and grabbed eight boards.
For UNCW, Carter led the way with 11, while Todd Hendley scored 10 with seven rebounds.
The Huskies 44 points matched a season-low, as they scored that many in a 59-44 setback to Holy Cross on Dec. 30. Wilmington also tallied a season-low with their 46-point effort in the win.
The Huskies return home on Thurs., Feb. 2 to host William & Mary in a CAA matchup beginning at 7 p.m. at Matthews Arena. They will also learn their final non-conference opponent of the season, as the ESPN Bracket Buster pairings will be announced on Jan. 29. That game will be played Feb. 18 at Matthews Arena.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs UNC Wilmington
01-28-06 7:00 p.m. at Wilmington, N.C. (Trask Coliseum)
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VISITORS: Northeastern 11-8 (7-4 CAA)
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 3-6 0-1 1-1 1 5 6 1 7 1 0 1 0 23
21 James, Shawn........ f 3-8 0-1 1-2 1 10 11 2 7 0 3 5 0 36
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... g 2-12 0-8 1-2 0 2 2 2 5 7 9 0 1 36
12 Davis, Aaron........ g 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 34
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 2-4 2-4 0-0 0 5 5 4 6 0 4 0 0 31
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 3-4 3-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 9 0 0 0 0 16
15 Farmer, Jeff........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
33 Cole, Janon......... 2-2 0-0 1-2 2 6 8 1 5 1 2 0 0 20
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 17-42 6-23 4-7 4 33 37 10 44 9 19 6 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8% 2nd Half: 6-19 31.6% Game: 40.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-13 15.4% Game: 26.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 57.1% 2
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HOME TEAM: UNC Wilmington 16-6 (9-2 CAA)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 Laue, Mitch......... f 4-9 0-2 0-1 2 2 4 3 8 0 0 0 1 27
42 Wyrick, Beckham..... f 1-5 0-1 2-2 2 6 8 1 4 0 1 0 0 31
41 Hendley, Todd....... c 5-13 0-0 0-0 5 2 7 3 10 2 2 0 1 34
02 Carter, T.J......... g 4-17 1-7 2-2 4 8 12 0 11 2 0 0 2 32
03 Goldsberry, John.... g 1-13 1-10 0-0 2 1 3 2 3 7 1 0 1 38
04 Fountain, Daniel.... 1-2 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 4 1 1 0 0 11
20 Lay, Taylor......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
22 Soyebo, Temi........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
31 Grkovic, Dejan...... 3-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 1 11
32 Kuljanin, Vladimir.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 1 1 2 1
Totals.............. 19-67 2-23 6-7 16 22 38 10 46 12 7 0 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-34 26.5% 2nd Half: 10-33 30.3% Game: 28.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-10 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-13 15.4% Game: 8.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 6-6 100 % Game: 85.7% 0
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Officials: Joey Caruthers, Jerry Heater, Bobby Pennigton
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. UNC Wilmington-None.
Attendance: 6100
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 27 17 - 44
UNC Wilmington................ 18 28 - 46
Points in the paint-NU 20,UNCW 20. Points off turnovers-NU 3,UNCW 8.
2nd chance points-NU 7,UNCW 12. Fast break points-NU 5,UNCW 2.
Bench points-NU 14,UNCW 10. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-00:10, UNCW 2nd-00:03.
