The Northeastern University men's basketball team came back from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat James Madison by three on the road, 67-64, Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va. Eugene Spates led four Huskies in double figures with a game-high and career-best 21 points. Bobby Kelly scored 13, Bennet Davis got 12 and Matt Janning had 11. In the last 30 seconds, the Huskies got two free throws from freshmen Janning and Spates with consecutive defensive stops to hold off the Dukes and get the win.
James Madison opened the game on a 7-0 run but the Huskies climbed back throughout the period to tie the game at 26 with 4:21 remaining. The teams alternated baskets during the last four minutes before last season's CAA Rookie of the Year, Juwann James scored the last four points of the half to give the Dukes a 36-32 lead at the half. The Huskies' post players got into some early foul trouble that helped James have his way inside in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting with four rebounds. James helped the Dukes outscore the Huskies, 18-8, in the paint in the first. JMU shot 50 percent in the first half while the Huskies shot 43.5 percent.
The Dukes got a quick start in the second half, extending their lead to 46-34 at the 15-minute mark thanks to six points from Pierre Curtis in the first four minutes of the half. The Huskies battled back to within single digits but a 3-pointer from Colbey Santos extended the Dukes' lead back to 12 points with 14:08 remaining. The Huskies outscored the Dukes 20-8 in the next ten minutes to tie the game with 5:06 remaining. Spates scored 10 points during the run. JMU answered back and two Terrance Carter free throws tied the game back up at the 4:16 point. On the next possession, Bobby Kelly got fouled driving to basket and converted on a pair of free throws to give NU a lead they would not relinquish. Up by two points with 3:39 left, the Huskies converted on 6-of-8 free throws to secure the win.
The teams were whistled for a total of 48 fouls in the game as the Huskies were 17-of-25 at the line and the Dukes were 22-of-30. Both teams endured some foul trouble as Manny Adako fouled out for NU and JMU's James and Gabriel Chami both fouled out.
NU is back in action on Wed., Feb. 14 at Georgia State.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs James Madison
2/10/07 7 P.M. at JMU CONVOCATION CENTER/HARRISONBURG, VA.
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VISITORS: Northeastern 9-17, 7-8
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 5-8 1-2 1-3 1 1 2 4 12 1 2 0 2 27
23 Janning, Matt....... f 3-9 2-6 3-4 1 4 5 3 11 3 5 0 0 39
32 Adako, Manny........ f 1-2 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 5 4 0 0 0 0 20
11 Martinez, Adrian.... g 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 11
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 4-8 1-5 4-4 1 5 6 1 13 4 1 0 1 39
20 Smith, Matt......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7
24 Spates, Eugene...... 5-11 3-6 8-9 2 3 5 3 21 0 2 0 2 21
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 9
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 4-8 1 3 4 4 4 0 2 0 0 27
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 19-42 7-21 22-30 8 22 30 21 67 11 15 0 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23 43.5% 2nd Half: 9-19 47.4% Game: 45.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 15-22 68.2% Game: 73.3% 3
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HOME TEAM: James Madison 7-18, 4-11
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Swanston, Kyle...... f 0-3 0-2 2-2 1 3 4 2 2 2 1 0 3 29
33 James, Juwann....... f 8-17 0-0 2-4 4 3 7 5 18 1 2 0 2 35
34 Carter, Terrance.... f 3-9 0-1 2-6 1 5 6 4 8 2 3 0 2 30
05 Curtis, Pierre...... g 5-8 0-1 10-12 0 3 3 4 20 0 2 0 0 32
24 Santos, Colbey...... g 3-8 2-5 0-0 2 3 5 3 8 2 0 0 0 36
03 Posey, Joe.......... 1-4 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 2 3 1 0 0 0 23
15 Chami, Gabriel...... 2-3 0-0 1-1 2 0 2 5 5 0 2 0 0 8
25 Bray, JaQuan........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 7
31 Parker, Matt........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 22-52 3-13 17-25 12 20 32 27 64 8 11 0 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-28 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-24 33.3% Game: 42.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 23.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 10-15 66.7% Game: 68.0% 4
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Officials: Sean Casady, Mark Schnur, Clyde Owens
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. James Madison-None.
Attendance: 3508
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 32 35 - 67
James Madison................. 36 28 - 64
Foul Outs: NU: Adako 8:14 JMU: James 4:29, Chami 2:27
Curtis (JMU) career high points
Spates (NU) career high points
Points in the paint-NU 20,JMU 26. Points off turnovers-NU 9,JMU 13.
2nd chance points-NU 5,JMU 10. Fast break points-NU 4,JMU 6.
Bench points-NU 27,JMU 8. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-03:13, JMU 2nd-02:10.
