Manny Adako hit a pair of jumpers to give the Northeastern men's basketball team the lead and Chaisson Allen hit a fall-away jumper with 19 seconds left to secure the win as the Huskies walked away with a 76-71 double overtime victory over Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.
After Harvard overcame a seven-point deficit with under a minute to play in regulation, the two teams went into the first overtime tied 62-62. Neither team had much offense in the first overtime. Harvard went up 64-62 on a jumper by Keith Wright. The Huskies tied it on free throws from Matt Janning. After a foul on Adako, the Crimson took a two-point lead at 2:58 on free throws by Max Kenyi. The Huskies didn't score until there were three seconds left when Nkem Ojougboh nailed a hook shot in the lane. That tied it up at 66-66 heading into the second extra frame.
In the second overtime, Adako gave the Huskies the advantage with back-to-back jumpers in the paint, putting NU up 70-66 with 2:02 left. However, Harvard stayed close with a three-pointer from Peter Boehm. Janning then swept through the lane and connected on a layup, but Jeremy Lin answered quickly by racing down the court and hitting a layup. NU led 72-71 with 49 seconds left.
The Huskies moved the ball down court and with the shot clock winding down, Allen took an off-balance shot from the key just in front of the three-point line and connected, giving NU a three-point cushion, 74-71. Down the other way, it appeared that Boehm was trying to take a shot from the right block, but the ball went off his hands out of bounds and to Northeastern. Janning was fouled, and he iced the game with free throws.
Janning finished with 21 points in a career-high 47 minutes. In the first half, he scored his 1,000th career point becoming the 28th and fourth-fastest Husky to accomplish the feat. Allen finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Adako chipped in 12 points and Ojougboh recorded his fifth-career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Lin led Harvard with 18 points and seven assists.
The first half was back and forth as both teams battled for the lead. There were eight ties in the first half. Harvard had a 15-9 lead at 12:16 after Boehm made a three-pointer. However, Northeastern quickly erased that deficit with baskets by Vinny Lima, Ojougboh and Matt Smith. Tied at 17-17, Janning hit the 1,000-point mark with a fade-away jumper at 8:06 to put the Huskies up 19-17.
Still back and forth, the game was tied again at 24-24 when Eugene Spates drained a three from the corner to reclaim the lead. Harvard tied the game again at 27-27, but NU took control of the first half when Ojougboh hit a turnaround jumper in the lane at 2:01 and Spates connected on a three at the top of the key for a 32-27 lead at the break. In the second half, Northeastern opened up two different nine-point leads, but Harvard battled back each time. After Adako's layup at 10:04 gave NU a 50-41 advantage, the Crimson answered with an 8-0 run that was capped by a Drew Housman three to cut the Huskies' lead to one, 50-49, with 5:32 remaining.
Northeastern did not wilt though as Janning took the ball and connected on a pull-up jumper with a hand in his face to quiet the crowd and up the lead to three, 52-49. The lead expanded to seven, 60-53, after a pair of Janning free throws with 59 seconds to play.
After a timeout, Harvard began its comeback with Housman nailing a three-pointer. Allen was then fouled, but he hit his free throws and NU led 62-56 with 35 seconds left. However, Lin came back down the court and drained a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game, 62-59. Employing full court pressure, Kenyi forced Janning to turn the ball over. That opened it up to Housman, who tied the game with a long three-pointer with eight seconds left. NU had a chance to win it in regulation, but Ojougboh's final shot was blocked.
The double overtime affair was Northeastern's first since a 71-68 win over Drexel on Jan. 31, 1998. The Huskies have won two in a row and three of the last four over Harvard. Improving to 3-2 on the road, the Huskies are sporting a winning road record for the first time since early in the 2005-06 season.
Northeastern will break for finals and return to the court on Monday, Dec. 22, when the Huskies battle the Hoosiers of Indiana University at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., at 9 p.m. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Harvard
12/10/08 7:00 PM at Cambridge, Mass. (Lavietes Pavilion)
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VISITORS: Northeastern 5-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Lima, Vinny......... f 1-3 0-1 2-2 2 2 4 2 4 0 1 1 0 20
20 Smith, Matt......... f 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 19
32 Adako, Manny........ f 6-10 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 12 0 6 1 3 35
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 7-13 1-3 2-3 1 6 7 0 17 2 3 1 1 47
23 Janning, Matt....... g 6-16 1-5 8-8 3 3 6 0 21 4 5 0 1 47
02 Alvarez, Chris...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
24 Spates, Eugene...... 2-6 2-3 0-0 1 6 7 4 6 0 0 1 0 34
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
33 Felix, Ben.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... 5-9 0-0 1-1 7 4 11 3 11 2 2 0 1 38
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 29-63 5-16 13-14 17 26 43 12 76 8 20 4 6 250
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-26 50.0% 2nd Half: 11-27 40.7% OT: 5-10 50.0% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% OT: 0-2 0.0% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 7-7 100 % OT: 4-5 80.0% Game: 92.9% 0
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HOME TEAM: Harvard 4-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Miller, Doug........ f 3-4 0-0 1-2 3 1 4 1 7 1 1 1 0 22
42 Wright, Keith....... f 4-11 0-0 3-4 1 2 3 0 11 0 0 1 0 34
04 Lin, Jeremy......... g 8-14 2-4 0-0 1 4 5 5 18 7 6 3 3 47
10 Housman, Drew....... g 4-11 3-6 2-2 1 4 5 0 13 2 0 0 1 37
32 Pusar, Andrew....... g 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 1 0 9
03 McGeary, Dan........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
11 McNally, Oliver..... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 10
13 Boehm, Peter........ 2-5 2-5 0-0 0 3 3 2 6 0 2 0 1 31
22 Harris, Evan........ 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 0 13
23 Kenyi, Max.......... 4-7 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 4 10 0 2 0 4 41
Team................ 1 2 3 1
Totals.............. 27-60 8-20 9-12 8 18 26 16 71 11 15 6 9 250
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% OT: 3-9 33.3% Game: 45.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% OT: 1-4 25.0% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% OT: 2-2 100 % Game: 75.0% 2
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Officials: Robert Patey, Charles Elias, Bill Laubenstein
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Harvard-None.
Attendance: 343
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT OT2 Total
Northeastern.................. 32 30 4 10 - 76
Harvard....................... 27 35 4 5 - 71
Points in the paint-NU 36,HARV 30. Points off turnovers-NU 13,HARV 21.
2nd chance points-NU 19,HARV 13. Fast break points-NU 2,HARV 2.
Bench points-NU 17,HARV 17. Score tied-11 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-NU OT2-00:19, HARV OT2-00:49.
Largest lead-NU by 9 2nd-14:17, HARV by 6 1st-12:16.
