The Northeastern University men's basketball team played Towson from behind the entire game and despite a late run, the Huskies fell to the Tigers 77-71 Wednesday night at the Towson Center in Towson, Md.
The loss sends the Huskies to 0-2 in the CAA while Towson evens its conference mark at 1-1.
Sophomore Manny Adako had a big night for Northeastern, scoring 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting. He also collected six rebounds and a block.
Towson (5-7, 1-1 CAA) took control of the game in the first half on the strength of inside man Junior Hairston and outside man Jonathan Pease. Hairston was 6-for-9 from the field for 14 points while Pease hit three three-pointers in a span of three minutes. He finished the first half with 13 points.
The Tigers built up a 34-17 lead with 6:36 remaining in the half when Northeastern began to gain momentum. Adako scored five consecutive points for NU to get the team to within nine. After sophomore Nkem Ojougboh connected on a layup, Adako went back to work, nailing a mid-range jumper on a dish from sophomore Matt Janning to make it 33-26 Towson with 2:37 left. Adako was 6-for-6 in the first half, scoring 15 points.
Following a Josh Thornton three for Towson, Chaisson Allen scored five consecutive Husky points in a wild sequence. He was fouled at 2:01 and made the first free throw, but his second shot hit the rim, hung up in the air and was re-directed back to him. He drove to the lane and drew another foul and made both shots. Coming back down the court, Allen picked Robert Nwankwo for a steal and drove it to the hoop for a fast break layup. With 1:28 left, it was 36-31 Towson.
Ojougboh, who produced his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, hit two more free throws for the Huskies before Tim Crossin ended the half with a three to send the Tigers to the locker room with a 39-33 advantage.
Towson came out roaring in the second half with a 14-4 run that was sparked by Thornton, who scored 10 of those 14 points, including two long three-pointers.
The Huskies (4-8, 0-2 CAA) responded immediately as Adako led the team on a 12-4 run. He scored six of those points to bring NU within eight, 57-49, with 11:44 left to play.
Towson did not let up, coming right back with 12 of the next 17 points to open up a 15-point lead, 69-54, with 6:41 on the clock. But the Huskies stayed in the game as Adako and junior Eugene Spates traded off hitting buckets to bring it within four. Spates drained a three and hit two free throws before Adako hit jumpers on back-to-back possessions. Spates, who had 13 points in the game, then made it a four-point game with his second three. With 2:19 to play, it was 70-66 Tigers.
The Huskies were unable to get any closer as the Tigers hit seven free throws in the final two minutes while the Huskies missed three of four shots to close out the game. Hairston led Towson, which shot 50 percent for the contest, with 25 points, eight boards and three blocks. Pease added 20 points and seven rebounds.
Northeastern will look get in the win column this Saturday when it takes on Georgia State at Matthews Arena at 1 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Towson
01/02/08 7:00 p.m. at Towson Center, Towson, Md.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Northeastern 4-8 (0-2 CAA)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Spates, Eugene...... f 4-7 3-5 2-2 1 1 2 4 13 1 0 0 1 23
32 Adako, Manny........ f 12-16 0-0 4-5 3 3 6 1 28 2 0 1 0 37
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 4-10 0-0 7-8 4 7 11 4 15 4 1 2 0 36
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 2-5 0-1 5-6 2 4 6 0 9 6 3 0 2 38
23 Janning, Matt....... g 3-12 0-3 0-1 1 2 3 2 6 1 1 0 0 37
02 Alvarez, Chris...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 4 0 1 3 2 0 12
10 Gunterberg, Johan... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
20 Smith, Matt......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 7
31 Aragbaye, Allen..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 25-56 3-11 18-22 14 25 39 15 71 17 10 5 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 14-28 50.0% Game: 44.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-13 84.6% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 81.8% 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Towson 5-7 (1-1 CAA)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Hairston, Junior.... f 8-13 2-3 7-7 2 6 8 4 25 1 1 3 1 35
33 Pease, Jonathan..... f 8-11 4-7 0-0 0 7 7 4 20 1 0 0 2 24
01 Williams, C.C....... g 1-6 0-3 4-6 0 0 0 2 6 5 0 1 0 27
05 Carr, Vernon........ g 1-5 0-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 4 0 0 0 28
23 Thornton, Josh...... g 5-7 3-5 0-0 0 2 2 0 13 0 2 0 0 26
03 Crossin, Tim........ 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 3 11
04 Coleman, Rocky...... 1-3 0-1 0-3 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 21
25 Nwankwo, Robert..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
34 Raboin, Sean........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
35 Durant, Tony........ 2-6 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 3 6 1 2 1 0 26
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 27-54 10-25 13-18 6 21 27 15 77 18 6 5 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-30 53.3% 2nd Half: 11-24 45.8% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-14 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 13-15 86.7% Game: 72.2% 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: George Harry (R), Louie Andrakakos, Curtis Blair
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Towson-None.
Attendance: 1165
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 33 38 - 71
Towson........................ 39 38 - 77
Manny Adako scores career high 28 points for Northeastern ... Junior Hairston
has career high 25 points ... Northeastern loses 3rd game in a row ... Josh
Thornton scores career high 13 points for Towson.
Points in the paint-NU 26,TOWSON 26. Points off turnovers-NU 13,TOWSON 16.
2nd chance points-NU 22,TOWSON 6. Fast break points-NU 9,TOWSON 19.
Bench points-NU 0,TOWSON 11. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-00:10, TOWSON 2nd-06:41.
