Box Score
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sophomores Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) combined for 21 first-half points to lead Northeastern to an 18-point halftime advantage against UC Riverside on Wednesday night at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. The Highlanders (1-4) closed to within five points late in the second half, but solid free-throw shooting by the Huskies sealed the 61-52 win.

NU (3-1), making its first Shootout appearance since advancing to the finals of the 1986 tournament, was led by Ford with 14 points, which tied for the game high. Joel Smith (Leander, Texas) added 11 and Banegas-Flores scored a career-high nine points in a career-best 29 minutes of play. Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) each added eight, Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and David Walker (Stow, Ohio) scored five each, and Dinko Marshavelski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) added one.

Josh Fox scored 14 points to lead UCR. Chris Patton added nine points and three other Highlanders pitched in with eight apiece.

After racing out to an 18-point halftime lead, the Huskies pushed the margin to a game-high 21 points with just over 17 minutes remaining and led by 19 with 12 minutes and 30 seconds to play. UC Riverside, though, found its offensive rhythm and rattled off an 11-1 run to climb within nine, 47-38, at the nine-minute mark.

Pollard connected on a jumper to slow the UCR run, but the Highlanders scored four of the next five points to narrow the gap to eight, 50-42, with seven minutes to play. A free throw by Ford and a Stahl layup seemed to give NU some breathing room, but a 3-pointer and two layups by the Highlanders, sandwiched around two Stahl free throws, made it a six point game (55-49) with just over three minutes showing on the clock.

After two Smith free throws, UCR connected on another long-distance shot to close to within five (57-52), the game's smallest margin since the 10:49 mark of the first half (13-9). The Huskies, though, converted four more free throws to seal the victory.

In the first half, UCR connected on four of its first five shots to take an early 9-7 lead — its last lead of the contest. Northeastern responded with a 12-0 run to grab a 19-9 lead with 9:36 remaining in the half. Five different NU players scored during the run. Smith and Walker ignited the run with layups, followed by two Smith free throws. Pollard then dialed in with a 3-pointer from the left side and Ford nailed a three from the left corner to force a Highlanders timeout.

With the lead still at 10 (28-18) with four minutes remaining in the half, the Huskies went on another tear. Walker drained a three from the right wing and, following a jumper from UCR's Devenny, NU scored the final seven points of the half. Banegas-Flores and Stahl each hit a pair of free throws and Ford connected on a long-range shot from the top of the key to give the Huntington Hounds a 38-20 lead at the break.

Northeastern now has won the opening-round game in each of its trips to the Great Alaska Shootout. In 1986, the Huskies stunned the basketball world by defeating No. 2 Louisville — the defending national champion — 88-84 behind 32 points from NU legend Reggie Lewis.

For the game, the Huskies shot 41 percent (17-41) from the floor, 50 percent (8-16) from 3-point range, and 76 percent (19-25) from the free-throw line. UC Riverside was 43 percent (22-51) from the field, 28 percent (5-18) from beyond the arc, and 75 percent (3-4) from the charity stripe. The Huskies won the battle of the boards, 31-27.

Northeastern will face Belmont, which defeated host Alaska Anchorage 74-60, in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. AST. That game will be nationally televised on the CBS Sports Network.

Game notes
> Marco Banegas-Flores scored a career high nine points and played a career-high 29 minutes
> Quincy Ford went 3-of-5 from 3-point range and now is shooting 56 percent from distance (10-18)
> Joel Smith now has hit at least one 3-pointer in 53 of NU's last 56 games
> Smith (6-6) and Zach Stahl (4-4) combined to go a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line
> Ford and fellow sophomore Reggie Spencer each grabbed five rebounds to tie for the team high
> Northeastern improved to 2-0 in opening round games at the Great Alaska Shootout; in the first round of the 1986 tournament, NU shocked the basketball world by defeating No. 2 Louisville, the defending national champion, 88-84, behind 32 points from NU legend Reggie Lewis