Matt Janning's three-pointer with 1:48 remaining in the game broke a 63-63 tie and sent the Northeastern men's basketball team to a 70-66 victory over Providence Saturday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. Janning scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 16 points in the second half.
Northeastern improves to 2-1 on the young season. It was Northeastern's first win over Providence since the 1926-27 season. The Huskies were just 2-8 all-time against the Friars coming into the game. It also was Northeastern's first win over a Big East team since the Huskies beat West Virginia, 91-84, on Nov. 29, 2003.
In the second half, the Huskies opened up an 11-point lead with a 20-10 run that culminated with Baptiste Bataille's big three-pointer at 9:11, giving them the 51-40 advantage.
However, Providence stormed back as Brian McKenzie nailed three three-pointers in just over two minutes, closing the gap to just three points, 55-52, with 6:40 to play.
At 4:32, Providence's Geoff McDermott tied the game at 60-60 with a big three-pointer, but Bataille came up clutch again with a three-pointer of his own off an assist from Spates to take a 60-57 lead. Providence hit one free throw and then Spates drilled a three-pointer home for the five-point advantage, 63-58, with 2:54 remaining.
The Friars tied the game with a three-point play from Weyinmi Efejuku at 2:13, but that's when Janning took a pass from Chaisson Allen and took a long distance three-pointer that went in, giving the Huskies the lead for good. Providence had opportunities to tie, but missed three of four free throws down the stretch while Allen and Bataille both connected on critical free throw shots at the end.
For Janning, it was his 12th career 20-point game and extended his double-digit scoring streak to 22 games. Spates' five three-pointers were a career high. Allen had nine points and five assists, and Bataille finished with nine points, two assists and two steals in just 16 minutes.
The Huskies shot 48 percent as a team, 60 percent from three-point range. The NU defense limited Providence to 40.7 percent shooting, 24 percent from three-point range. The Friars did not help their own cause at the free throw line, shooting just 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from the charity stripe.
Efejuku led Providence with 16 points.
The first half was low-scoring as both teams struggled early on. After McDermott hit free throws at 18:25 to tie the game at 5-5, neither team score for nearly four minutes. Hanke broke the scoreless streak with a layup at 14:38. Providence went on to have a 10-0 run that lasted until Janning finally broke through with a layup at 12:06.
Down as many as eight in the first half, the Huskies worked their way back with defense and opportune baskets. The Huskies forced 12 Friars turnovers while recording five steals and three blocks. Allen cut the deficit to one with a layup at 5:23. Following a missed layup by McKenzie, Spates drained a three-pointer to give Northeastern the lead 20-18 with 4:55 left before halftime.
The NU lead expanded to three twice, the second time coming when Janning had a fastbreak layup on a dish from Allen to make it 26-23. Marshon Brooks had a layup with one second on the clock to cut the lead to one, 26-25 at halftime.
Northeastern resumes play next Saturday, Nov. 22, when the Huskies host Holy Cross in their home opener at Matthews Arena at 7 p.m. The game will broadcast live on WRBB Radio and live video will stream at GoNU.TV.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Providence College
11/15/08 7:04 p.m. at Dunkin' Donuts Center - Providence, R.I.
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VISITORS: Northeastern 2-1
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 6-12 5-7 0-0 3 3 6 3 17 1 1 0 2 34
32 Adako, Manny........ f 2-9 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 1 0 30
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 1-4 0-0 3-4 4 3 7 4 5 1 2 2 0 26
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 3-7 0-2 3-5 1 1 2 1 9 5 3 0 2 36
23 Janning, Matt....... g 10-14 2-4 2-2 1 5 6 2 24 2 3 0 2 38
02 Alvarez, Chris...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 5 2 3 3 1 2 17
11 Lima, Vinny......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 3-5 2-2 1-2 0 0 0 3 9 2 2 0 2 16
TEAM................
Totals.............. 26-54 9-15 9-13 10 16 26 21 70 14 15 4 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-26 42.3% 2nd Half: 15-28 53.6% Game: 48.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 7-8 87.5% Game: 60.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 69.2% 3,1
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HOME TEAM: Providence College 0-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 MCDERMOTT, Geoff.... f 2-5 1-1 3-5 3 4 7 4 8 1 5 1 1 27
34 KALE, Jonathan...... f 6-10 0-0 3-7 4 1 5 2 15 0 1 0 0 33
04 CURRY, Sharaud...... g 1-8 0-6 0-0 2 0 2 1 2 6 3 0 0 30
13 EFEJUKU, Weyinmi.... g 6-12 1-5 3-5 1 1 2 1 16 1 6 1 3 27
23 MCKENZIE, Brian..... g 4-12 3-7 1-2 2 1 3 4 12 1 1 1 1 34
01 XAVIER, Jeff........ 1-5 1-4 0-0 2 0 2 2 3 2 2 0 2 18
02 BROOKS, Marshon..... 2-4 0-2 0-0 1 5 6 3 4 0 2 2 0 19
32 HANKE, Randall...... 2-3 0-0 2-3 2 2 4 0 6 0 1 0 0 12
TEAM................ 5 5 10
Totals.............. 24-59 6-25 12-22 22 19 41 17 66 11 21 5 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 14-29 48.3% Game: 40.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-13 7.7% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 24.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-16 50.0% Game: 54.5% 6
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Officials: Ed Corbett, John Gaffney, Jamie Luckie
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Providence College-None.
Attendance: 8086
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 26 44 - 70
Providence College............ 25 41 - 66
Points in the paint-NU 26,PC 36. Points off turnovers-NU 15,PC 20.
2nd chance points-NU 9,PC 18. Fast break points-NU 10,PC 6.
Bench points-NU 11,PC 13. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-6 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-01:48, PC 2nd-00:05.
Largest lead-NU by 11 2nd-09:11, PC by 8 1st-12:27.
