Box score
The Northeastern University men's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped with a last-second 53-52 defeat to William & Mary Saturday at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. The Huskies had battled back from a 16-point deficit to take a one-point lead with 23 seconds left, but Kendrix Brown's putback with seven seconds left gave the Tribe the victory.
Northeastern (17-9, 12-3 CAA), which still has won 15 of its last 17 games, drops into a tie for first place in the CAA with Old Dominion. However, the Huskies still control their own destiny for the regular season championship, holding the tiebreaker edge over the Monarchs. William & Mary (18-7, 10-5 CAA) maintains its position in fourth place and now holds the tiebreaker over NU should it come to that.
Chaisson Allen led the Huskies with 10 points. He had the chance to give NU the victory, but his buzzer-beating shot from 10 feet out clanked off the rim. Northeastern was limited to 34.7 percent shooting. The 17 field goals made matched a season low.
Down 40-24 with 9:16 remaining, things looked bleak for the Huskies, but they battled back with a 12-2 run that was punctuated with a
Vinny Lima three-ball at 4:54 that cut the Tribe's lead to six, 42-36.
NU stayed within two or three possessions of William & Mary and then got within four after Allen drilled an open three and
Manny Adako converted a pair of free throws to make it 47-43 with 2:45 to play. After one David Schneider free throw made it 48-43 at the 2:31 mark, neither team scored again until
Baptiste Bataille threw up a three on a catch-and-shoot with 46 seconds left. Bataille hit the shot and was fouled on the play by Brown. Bataille missed the free throw, but NU was within two, 48-46.
On the rebound of Bataille's miss,
Alwayne Bigby was called for a foul, sending Matt Rum to the line. He made both shots, putting the Tribe up four again, 50-46.
On the next trip down,
Joel Smith came up big by driving to the hoop for a layup, making the bucket and drawing the foul. He hit his free throw and cut the deficit to one, 50-49, with 36 seconds on the clock. The Huskies fouled Quinn McDowell, who missed one of two. NU got the ball back, and Allen went to the hoop and converted a layup and picked up the foul to tie the game at 51-51. He made the free throw, giving the Huskies their only lead of the game, 52-51, with 23 seconds to play.
The Tribe gave the ball to Schneider, who missed a shot, but Brown was there for the rebound and then hit the short-range jumper for the win.
Danny Sumner led the Tribe with 14 points. Schneider added 11, and Marcus Kitts chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds.
The two teams had come into the game as the top two three-point shooting teams in the CAA, but neither squad shot particularly well there. NU was 6-for-23 (26 percent), and William & Mary was 5-for-25 (20 percent).
The first half was all Tribe as the Huskies were shut down on the offensive end. NU was just 6-for-23 from the field with very few open looks. William & Mary got out to a quick 6-2 lead on a pair of three-pointers, one from Schneider, the other by Sumner. The lead quickly developed to 10 points, 17-7, after Marcus Kitts had a dunk at 11:25 and a pair of free throws at 10:47.
Vinny Lima brought the Huskies back into it with a three after Kitts' free throws, but the Tribe then went on a 7-2 run, highlighted by a Sumner three at 6:08 that made it 24-12. The Huskies trailed at halftime 28-16. The 16 points, six field goals and 26.1 percent shooting were all season lows for a first half.
Northeastern will stay down south and take on UNC Wilmington Tuesday at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C., at 7 p.m.
