The Northeastern men's basketball team recovered from a 15-point, first-half deficit to end the game on a 51-20 run and knock off Old Dominion 58-42 Saturday night at the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va.
The win keeps the Huskies in a first-place tie with Virginia Commonwealth at 8-1. The two teams will square off with first place on the line Tuesday night in Richmond, Va. The Huskies improve to 13-6 overall while Old Dominion falls to 11-8, 4-5 in the CAA. It was Northeastern's first-ever win at Old Dominion.
Matt Janning led the Huskies with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, scoring 20 in the second half. He outscored the entire Monarchs team in the second half, 20-18. Old Dominion shot just 29 percent in the game and did not have a single player in double digits.
The Huskies got off to a rough start as the Monarchs played a tight defense. NU committed seven turnovers in the first 8:25 of the game, giving Old Dominion the chance to go on a 17-1 run. The Huskies were at a disadvantage with Janning sitting on the bench with two fouls for a stretch.
Old Dominion was leading 22-7 and about to get the Huskies to commit a shot clock violation when Eugene Spates hit an off-balance miracle three-pointer at the buzzer to end the Monarchs' run. That revitalized the Huskies, who went on a 14-2 run to end the half. Following his three, Spates then stole the ball and dished off to Allen, who finished off the fast break with a dunk as the Huskies cut the deficit to 10, 22-12.
Manny Adako then got into the act with a reverse layup and a short jumper in the lane that rolled on the rim for a second before dropping in. The 9-0 run got the Huskies to within six, 22-16.
Gerald Lee ended ODU's scoreless streak with a soft layup, but Chris Alvarez hit a pair of free throws and then Matt Smith drained a three in the corner with 32 seconds left to whittle the ODU lead to three, 24-21, at the half.
In the second half, Old Dominion reclaimed a five-point lead, 32-27, after Darius James connected on a three-point shot. However, Janning took over the game scoring 16 of the Huskies' next 21 points. He hit a layup at 14:52 to cut the deficit to one, 32-31. Then once Northeastern had the lead, he widened it with three-pointers at 11:37 and 10:02. Northeastern held a 42-34 lead after that second three.
Janning hit one of two free throws that came as a result of a technical foul on Blaine Taylor. He then stretched the Husky lead into double digits at 6:27 with a fastbreak layup after the Huskies beat the Old Dominion press. Janning put the icing on the cake with a three-pointer at 5:37 and then drove down the side of the basket and dished off to a waiting Adako, who made the easy layup in front of the basket. Northeastern led 52-39 with 4:38 to play.
Meanwhile, the Northeastern defense stiffened in the second half, not allowing any inside shots to fall and forcing 10 turnovers. Old Dominion made just six field goals in the second half and was held to 18 points. The 42 points total scored by Old Dominion is tied for the third-fewest points scored by an NU opponent since the 1991-92 season. The Huskies also held Indiana to 42 points earlier this season.
The Huskies limited All-CAA forward Gerald Lee to a season-low four points. James and Keyon Carter scored eight points to lead Old Dominion. The Monarchs as a team were held to their season low in points and field goal percentage.
The Huskies continue their five-day swing through Virginia with a Tuesday night clash with Virginia Commonwealth at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va., at 9 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Old Dominion Univ.
01-24-09 7:07 p.m. at Norfolk, VA./Constant Convocation Center
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Northeastern 13-6/8-1 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 Spates, Eugene...... f 3-7 2-6 0-0 0 1 1 0 8 2 1 0 3 24
32 Adako, Manny........ f 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 7 8 2 8 0 3 2 1 33
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 2-4 0-0 3-4 2 1 3 1 7 0 2 2 0 21
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 1-6 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 2 4 4 2 0 4 34
23 Janning, Matt....... g 8-13 3-7 5-6 0 4 4 2 24 3 2 0 1 32
02 Alvarez, Chris...... 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 0 16
11 Lima, Vinny......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
15 McDonald, Brian..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 Smith, Matt......... 1-3 1-3 2-2 0 3 3 1 5 0 1 0 1 17
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 1 19
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 19-39 6-17 14-16 5 21 26 11 58 13 13 5 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-18 44.4% 2nd Half: 11-21 52.4% Game: 48.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 11-12 91.7% Game: 87.5% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Old Dominion Univ. 11-8/ 4-5 CAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Lee, Gerald......... f 2-6 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 4 0 4 1 1 29
21 Hassell, Frank...... f 1-4 0-0 0-0 4 0 4 2 2 0 1 0 1 16
35 Finney, Ben......... f 2-10 1-4 1-4 3 5 8 0 6 0 0 0 0 30
03 James, Darius....... g 2-9 2-4 2-2 1 1 2 2 8 3 6 0 1 31
23 Neely, Marsharee.... g 2-6 1-3 0-0 2 2 4 1 5 1 2 0 1 21
15 Iliadis, Trian...... 1-4 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 7
22 De Lancey, Marquel.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 9
24 Bazemore, Kent...... 2-6 0-1 1-2 3 0 3 4 5 1 0 1 1 17
33 Carter, Keyon....... 3-6 0-2 2-2 2 2 4 2 8 1 0 1 0 27
34 Adams, Jonathan..... 1-4 0-1 0-0 3 1 4 2 2 0 1 0 1 13
Team................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 16-55 4-16 6-11 21 15 36 14 42 8 16 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 6-25 24.0% Game: 29.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 54.5% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Raymond Styons, William Humes, Sean Hull
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Old Dominion Univ.-Team.
Attendance: 7572
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 21 37 - 58
Old Dominion Univ............. 24 18 - 42
Points in the paint-NU 20,ODU 19. Points off turnovers-NU 18,ODU 10.
2nd chance points-NU 6,ODU 20. Fast break points-NU 4,ODU 5.
Bench points-NU 7,ODU 17. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-04:38, ODU 2nd-05:13.
Largest lead-NU by 17 2nd-00:41, ODU by 15 1st-06:37.
