Box Score
WATCH: Spencer's game-winning basket
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PRINCETON, N.J. — Behind a career-high 27 points from sophomore Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and a buzzer-beating layup by classmate Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), the Northeastern men's basketball team stormed back from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat Princeton, 67-66, on Tuesday night at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Trailing by 18 points with 13 minutes remaining, Northeastern charged to a 29-10 game-closing run, scoring the final eight points while holding the Tigers scoreless over the final three minutes. The Huskies' improbable comeback was complete when freshman Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) drove the lane and dished a perfect pass to Spencer on the right block for a layup with two seconds remaining.

For the Huskies, it was the second buzzer-beating victory in as many games. Northeastern, which improved to 2-0 for the second time in three seasons, overcame double-digit deficits in both victories.

Spencer's game-winning basket gave him 16 points on the night, to go with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. For Ford, his 27 points and eight rebounds were both game highs. The All-CAA forward was 8-of-13 from the floor, including an impressive 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Stahl and fellow freshman David Walker (Stow, Ohio) each recorded career highs with eight and five points, respectively. Senior Joel Smith (Leander, Texas) added six points, junior Chris Avenant (Sacramento, Calif.) five, and sophomore Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) two, to round out the NU scoring.

Ian Hummer scored 25 points to lead Princeton, but was limited to just four second-half points by an energized NU defense. Clay Wilson added 12 points and Will Barrett 11 for the home team.

Trailing by 12 at the break, the Huskies opened the second half on a 6-0 run, courtesy of a 3-pointer by Ford, a transition basket by Banegas-Flores and a Smith free throw, to draw to within 44-38 at the 17:26 mark.

Princeton, though, responded with a 12-0 run over four minutes to build a game-high 18-point advantage with 13:11 to play.

Avenant then connected on a key 3-point basket to end the Tigers' run and jumpstart the NU comeback. Spencer followed with a layup to bring the visitors within 13.

A basket by Hans Brase briefly slowed the Huskies' momentum, but five straight points from Ford — on a 3-pointer and a layup — followed by two Spencer free throws narrowed the lead to 58-50 with 9:29 to play.

The sides traded baskets twice before a Stahl layup closed the gap to six, 62-56, with 5:51 showing on the game clock. A series of free throws set the margin at seven, 66-59, with 3:10 left in the game. From there, the Northeastern defense did not surrender a single point.

Spencer connected on a free throw and Ford dialed in from deep for his fourth 3-pointer of the game — this one from the top of the key — to make it a three-point game at the 1:48 mark. After forcing a turnover, Ford hit two free throws to close the margin to one with under a minute to play.

Northeastern then forced Princeton into a errant 3-point attempt at the end of the shot clock, but the Tigers corralled the offensive rebound. Following a timeout, NU sent the Tigers' Mack Darrow to the free throw line, where he missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Huskies grabbed the rebound, pushed the ball up the floor, and called timeout to set the final play. Stahl drove the left side before dishing a perfect pass to Spencer on the right block for the game-winner.

In the first half, Princeton used a 9-0 run to build a 10-point lead less than seven minutes into the game. The lead grew to 11 before NU engineered a 10-2 run — capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Ford and Smith — to close to within three with 9:00 remaining in the half.

Over the half's next seven minutes and 30 seconds, The Tigers methodically built the lead to 12, 42-30. Stahl hit two free throws and Denton Kook answered with a layup to set the halftime score at 44-32.

For the game, Northeastern shot an impressive 57 percent (23-40), including 73 percent (8-11) from 3-point range. NU was 76 percent (13-17) from the free throw line. Princeton shot 47 percent (26-55) from the floor, 30 percent (7-23) from deep, and 70 percent (7-10) from the charity stripe. The Tigers edged the Huskies in rebounds, 26-23.

Northeastern will return home to face New England rival Vermont on Saturday at 7 p.m. at historic Matthews Arena. The Huskies defeated the Catamounts in thrilling fashion last year when Joel Smith connected on a runner from the right wing at the buzzer to lift NU to a 53-51 win.

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