Freshman Chaisson Allen broke a 67-67 tie by putting in a bucket after an offensive rebound to lead the Northeastern men's basketball team to a 73-69 victory over first-place Delaware Saturday evening at Matthews Arena.
The game was a wild affair that featured 18 tied scores and 12 lead changes. Neither team had a lead of more than eight points. It was the first overtime game at home for Northeastern since Jan. 20, 2002, a 95-88 loss to Boston University. It is the first overtime win at home for Northeastern since topping Niagara 73-66 on Jan. 8, 1991.
In the first half, the Blue Hens (8-9, 5-2 CAA) got off to a great start, taking a 14-7 lead after consecutive three-pointers by Brian Johnson and Marc Egerson. The Huskies (7-10, 3-4 CAA) climbed back into the game on the strength of sophomore captain Matt Janning's 13 first-half points. Three of his four first-half field goals either tied the game or gave NU the lead, including a long three-pointer off a pass from Allen at 1:23 that gave the Huskies a momentary 32-31 lead.
The Blue Hens, who shot 42 percent in the first half, were led by Alphonso Dawson, who scored 16 of his team-high 19 points, in the first half. After the Huskies took the 32-31 lead, Dawson nailed a layup with 45 seconds left to regain the lead and then nailed a layup at the buzzer to give Delaware a three-point advantage going into the locker room.
The Huskies overcame that three-point deficit in what was a see-saw second half. The teams traded buckets for a while until Northeastern took a 54-50 lead with 7:48 left to play, but Delaware rebounded with an 8-0 run that included two jumpers by Sam McMahon.
The Huskies followed that up with a 7-0 run of their own. Sophomore Manny Adako hit a mid-range jumper to cut it to 58-56 and sophomore Baptiste Bataille stripped Johnson for a steal and connected on two free throws after being fouled, tying the contest at 58-58 with 4:11 to play.
Each team was unable to score again until Bataille took a pass from Janning and drilled home a three-pointer from the corner, giving NU a 61-58 advantage with 53 seconds left on the clock.
Delaware's Johnson though took the ball and drove to the hoop, picking up a basket and a foul. He sailed in the free throw and tied the game at 61-61. Northeastern took the ball back looking to win it, but Janning's three-point attempt bounced off the rim. Egerson tried to win it for the Blue Hens with three seconds left, but his long three shot was off the mark, sending it to overtime.
In the extra frame, the Huskies took the lead on two Janning free throws, but Delaware came back down the floor and tied it when Edwin Santiago knocked down a jumper. After sophomore Nkem Ojougboh took a Janning pass in for a dunk to reclaim the lead, Egerson hit two free throws to tie it again. The process was repeated once more as Ojougboh hit two free throws only to see McMahon tie it with a jumper at 1:43, making it 67-67.
On the next Husky possession, Bataille missed a three-point attempt, but Allen was in the lane and grabbed the board and put it into the hoop for the 69-67 lead with 40 seconds to play. McMahon missed a three-pointer and back down the court, Ojougboh was fouled and hit two more free throws, making it 71-67 NU. McMahon made up for his miss with a long two-pointer with five seconds left.
Delaware fouled Janning and he hit another two free throws to clinch the game. Free throw shooting was the key for the Huskies, as they shot 83 percent (30-for-36) from the line, including each of their last 12 attempts. They were a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in overtime.
Janning was 8-for-8 from the line while Ojougboh was 7-for-8. Janning finished with a game-high 20 points and a career-high seven assists. Ojougboh dropped 17 points and pulled in nine rebounds. Adako chipped in 12 points for NU.
Dawson led Delaware with his 19 points while McMahon added 14 points off the bench. The Blue Hens got little out of All-CAA forward Herb Courtney, who contributed two points in 10 minutes of action. He was in foul trouble the whole game, picking up two personal fouls at 13:03 of the first half when he fouled Janning on his way to the basket and then was hit with a technical foul for arguing.
Northeastern will hit the road once more when it takes on UNC Wilmington on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C. at 7 p.m. The Huskies are back at home next Saturday Jan. 26 when they meet Hofstra at Matthews Arena at 1 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
DELAWARE vs Northeastern
1/19/08 5 p.m. at Matthews Arena (Boston, MA)
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VISITORS: DELAWARE 8-9, 5-2 CAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Courtney, Herb...... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 5 2 1 0 2 0 10
34 Ledsome, Jim........ f 1-3 0-0 2-2 2 5 7 3 4 1 4 2 2 43
01 Egerson, Marc....... g 2-7 2-3 4-4 0 4 4 5 10 2 7 0 3 34
11 Dawson, Alphonso.... g 7-13 1-3 4-4 4 0 4 1 19 1 1 0 3 31
14 Johnson, Brian...... g 4-8 2-3 1-1 0 2 2 4 11 6 5 0 2 40
04 Geli, Pau........... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
21 Boney, D.J.......... 0-2 0-0 1-3 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 1 1 6
24 Santiago, Edwin..... 1-4 0-1 6-6 1 1 2 4 8 0 1 0 0 23
25 McMahon, Sam........ 6-11 0-4 2-2 1 5 6 4 14 0 2 0 0 35
TEAM................ 1 2 3 1
Totals.............. 22-50 5-14 20-22 9 19 28 28 69 11 22 5 11 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-26 42.3% 2nd Half: 8-19 42.1% OT: 3-5 60.0% Game: 44.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% OT: 0-1 0.0% Game: 35.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-10 100 % 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% OT: 2-2 100 % Game: 90.9% 2
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 7-10, 3-4 CAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Alvarez, Chris...... f 1-4 0-1 4-4 1 0 1 4 6 0 1 0 1 23
32 Adako, Manny........ f 5-9 0-0 2-2 2 4 6 5 12 1 5 0 0 32
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 5-12 0-0 7-8 2 7 9 4 17 0 4 1 3 39
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 2-7 0-2 3-8 3 2 5 3 7 2 7 0 3 44
23 Janning, Matt....... g 5-11 2-3 8-8 1 1 2 1 20 7 3 0 2 44
10 Gunterberg, Johan... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
11 Lima, Vinny......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
20 Smith, Matt......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
24 Spates, Eugene...... 1-3 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 3 4 0 0 0 0 15
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 1-3 1-3 4-4 0 1 1 0 7 0 0 0 2 17
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 4 2 6
Totals.............. 20-49 3-10 30-36 13 19 32 21 73 11 20 1 11 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-22 50.0% 2nd Half: 7-22 31.8% OT: 2-5 40.0% Game: 40.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% OT: 0-1 0.0% Game: 30.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-14 64.3% 2nd Half:13-14 92.9% OT: 8-8 100 % Game: 83.3% 3
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Officials: Louie Andrakakos, Jose A. Carrion, Tim Comer
Technical fouls: DELAWARE-Courtney, Herb. Northeastern-None.
Attendance: 2345
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
DELAWARE...................... 35 26 8 - 69
Northeastern.................. 32 29 12 - 73
Points in the paint-DELAWARE 14,NU 22. Points off turnovers-DELAWARE 19,NU 20.
2nd chance points-DELAWARE 12,NU 17. Fast break points-DELAWARE 2,NU 2.
Bench points-DELAWARE 23,NU 11. Score tied-18 times. Lead changed-12 times.
Last FG-DELAWARE OT-00:05, NU OT-00:40.
