Box score

DeAndre Brown's banked three-pointer with 24 seconds left in the game broke a 67-67 tie and sent Louisiana Tech to a 70-67 win over the Huskies in a BracketBusters thriller at Matthews Arena. A season-high 4,414 fans, including a record 1,709 students, attended the event, which was nationally televised on ESPN2. Matt Janning led all scorers with 19 points and Nkem Ojougboh added a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) to lead Northeastern, which shot 54 percent from the field in the loss.

"Both teams shot the ball extremely well, and in those situations it was almost like whoever had the ball last was going to win this basketball game. It was big shot after big shot," said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen.

Northeastern (18-10) led for most of the contest, and had an eight-point lead, 65-57, with 5:11 remaining in the second half, but the Bulldogs made a big comeback on the strength of three-point shooting. Jamel Guyton drained a three-pointer to start a 10-2 run. Then he was fouled on another three-point attempt and made all three free throws. At 1:59, Kyle Gibson sank another three-pointer to cut NU's lead to one, 67-66, and Magnum Rolle completed the comeback with one of two free throws to tie the game.

On the ensuing Huskies possession, the officials whistled Janning for a charge that could have been called a block, giving the ball to Louisiana Tech (21-6) with just 50 seconds left on the clock.

Twenty-six seconds later, Brown, who had 18 points on the day, took a wild three-point shot that banked home, one of his four three-pointers, to give La. Tech its first lead since 17:12.

The Huskies had multiple chances to tie the game. Manny Adako's initial three-point attempt didn't fall, but the ball hit bounced off a Louisiana Tech player and out of bounds to give the Huskies one last chance with 5.5 seconds left on the clock. A wide-open three from Adako clanged off the rim and Allen wound up with the long rebound. He raced back behind the three-point line to shoot, but his buzzer-beater took a soft bounce off the back of the rim and away from the hoop, sealing the win for the Bulldogs.

To open the contest, the Bulldogs scored seven of the game's first nine points, but then Northeastern then went on a 16-6 run over the next 4:50 to take the lead, 18-13. Louisiana Tech came back to square the score at 18-18, but a flurry of scoring from the Huskies including a Baptiste Bataille three-pointer and a jumper from Janning with his toe on the line sent the Huskies up 24-18.

The Bulldogs found their way back into the lead after a set of buckets, but Janning splashed a long three-pointer to put NU up 27-25, the first three points of a 10-0 NU run. Allen notched the next seven points in the game on a fast-break dunk, a wide-open three and a lay-up on consecutive Husky possessions to make the score 34-25 at the 3:52 mark. The Bulldogs then strung a few buckets together towards the end of the half, closing the deficit to one at the break 38-37.

The Huskies started their second-half scoring with a teardrop in the paint from Janning and a rim-rocking dunk from Ojougboh. Louisiana Tech, however, put a few buckets in to take the lead, 45-44, just 2:29 into the half. The Bulldog lead didn't last long, as a Janning three-pointer from NBA-range put the Huskies up for the majority of the rest of the half.

Northeastern stretched its lead to eight on three different occasions, but couldn't put away the Bulldogs, who answered each eight-point NU lead with a quick basket to get back within two possessions.

At the end of the day, both teams enjoyed strong shooting days. The Huskies were 30-for-55 (54.5 percent) from the field, and La. Tech was 25-for-48 (52.1 percent). The game may have been decided at the free throw line, where NU had just two attempts (and one make). The Bulldogs were 12-for-16 from the charity stripe.

In addition to Janning and Ojougboh's efforts, Adako added 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and Allen had 11 points and six assists, extending his double figure scoring streak to 11 games and 19 of the last 20.

Adding to Brown's 18, Guyton also had 18 points, and Rolle contributed 17.

Northeastern will return to conference play Tuesday against Hofstra at Matthews Arena at 9 p.m. It will be Senior Night, and the Huskies will honor their five outgoing seniors in a pregame ceremony that will start at approximately 8:45 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU. A win will clinch at least the No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament. A win coupled with an Old Dominion loss will clinch the CAA regular season championship.