Tim Clifford scored 26 points and was 13-for-16 from the field as Holy Cross defeated the Northeastern University men's basketball team 61-47 Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.
The Huskies were unable to get an offensive rhythm going, shooting a season-low 28.8 percent from the field and scoring a season-low 47. Junior Eugene Spates led the Huskies with 12 points while sophomore captain Matt Janning had 11 points, extending his career-best double figure scoring streak to 15 games, which is the longest current streak in the CAA.
Holy Cross played a solid first half and had an 11-point lead at halftime, 32-21. The Crusaders got the ball inside to Clifford, who scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the half. The Huskies struggled with their shooting and with holding onto the ball, going only 8-for-22 from the field (36 percent) while committing eight turnovers. NU did get a lift from freshman Allen Aragbaye, who came in early in the first half and had back-to-back steals and fastbreak layups.
In the second half, Northeastern was able to score more points by getting to the free throw line, but the Huskies' jump shooting did not improve as they were 7-for-30 (23 percent) from the field.
Northeastern did make noise late in the game, cutting its deficit to four points, 46-42, with a 10-4 run that included seven points from Spates, but the Crusaders got the ball right back to Clifford, who scored eight of the Crusaders' final 15 points to take the victory.
Clifford dominated the second half with 14 points and three blocks. Overall, Holy Cross (15-11) shot 58 percent for the game.
Northeastern returns to conference action this Wednesday with a 7 p.m. tilt at Old Dominion. The Huskies' final home game of the season will be next Saturday against George Mason at Matthews Arena at 2 p.m. That game, which will be televised on Comcast SportsNet, will also be Senior Day and the Huskies will honor Mark Washington.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Holy Cross
02/23/08 4:00 p.m. at Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Northeastern 12-15
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 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 12
32 Adako, Manny........ f 4-7 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 2 8 1 2 0 0 38
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 0-7 0-1 1-2 2 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 25
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 0-5 0-2 2-3 1 2 3 0 2 0 3 0 0 21
23 Janning, Matt....... g 4-10 1-3 2-2 2 1 3 2 11 0 3 0 3 36
11 Lima, Vinny......... 2-4 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 14
24 Spates, Eugene...... 2-9 0-6 8-10 2 0 2 5 12 1 0 0 1 21
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-3 0-2 1-2 2 0 2 1 1 3 2 0 1 15
31 Aragbaye, Allen..... 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 1 2 0 2 11
50 Washington, Mark.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 7
TEAM................ 6 1 7
Totals.............. 15-52 3-17 14-19 16 14 30 13 47 6 15 2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-22 36.4% 2nd Half: 7-30 23.3% Game: 28.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 2-11 18.2% Game: 17.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 10-12 83.3% Game: 73.7% 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Holy Cross 15-11
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 Colin Cunningham.... f 2-5 1-2 3-5 1 1 2 2 8 6 2 0 2 34
53 Eric Meister........ f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 1 0 0 2 0 0 15
00 Tim Clifford........ c 13-16 0-0 0-1 4 1 5 3 26 1 3 4 0 37
02 Kyle Cruze.......... g 3-6 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 7 1 3 0 1 28
20 Pat Doherty......... g 1-4 1-3 1-2 0 1 1 3 4 3 4 0 3 25
03 Lawrence Dixon...... 1-2 1-1 2-2 0 1 1 0 5 2 0 0 3 18
22 Andrew Beinert...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 2 3 0 0 15
34 Andrew Keister...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
45 Greg McCarthy....... 5-7 0-0 1-1 0 6 6 3 11 3 2 2 0 25
TEAM................ 5 5
Totals.............. 25-43 4-10 7-11 6 21 27 14 61 18 19 6 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 11-18 61.1% Game: 58.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 63.6% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Bob Testa, Tim Comer, Brent Hampton
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Holy Cross-None.
Attendance: 3126
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 21 26 - 47
Holy Cross.................... 32 29 - 61
Points in the paint-NU 20,HC 40. Points off turnovers-NU 20,HC 16.
2nd chance points-NU 12,HC 4. Fast break points-NU 8,HC 6.
Bench points-NU 25,HC 16. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-00:00, HC 2nd-00:18.
