Box Score ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
Joel Smith (Leander, Texas) scored a game-high 19 points and Northeastern closed a double-digit deficit to four late in the game but lost to Charlotte, 67-59, in the championship game of the 2012 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout on Saturday night in Anchorage.
The Huskies, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, clawed to within four on a 3-pointer by Smith with less than a minute to play, but could not complete another trademark comeback.
David Walker (Stow, Ohio) scored a career-high 13 points to join Smith in double figures. Walker, who shot 3-for-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from deep, and was 4-for-4 from the line, tied for the game-high with four assists.
Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.) added nine points for NU, followed by
Dinko Marshavelski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) with five,
Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) and
Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) with four each,
Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) with three, and
Chris Avenant (Sacramento, Calif.) with two.
Charlotte took an early 12-1 lead behind a stifling defensive effort. The 49ers, who entered the game limiting opponents to just 56 points per game, held the Huskies without a field goal for the game's first seven minutes.
Ford finally broke the ice for NU, knocking down a jumper from the left corner at the 12:23 mark. The basket appeared to help the Huskies gain their footing. After a Charlotte bucket pushed the lead back to 11, Walker and Smith connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to five, 14-9, with 10 minutes to play.
The 49ers hit a layup, but NU continued with the long-ball assault, as Ford and Smith both hit from deep to counter a Charlotte three, bringing the visitors within four with just under six minutes left.
Charlotte, though, turned again to its defense, allowing NU just two points over the final five minutes. The 49ers closed the half on a 9-2 run to take a 30-19 lead into the break.
The second half started in much the same manner as the first, with the Huskies struggling to find an offensive rhythm. A free throw by Banegas-Flores accounted for the only NU scoring over the first nearly three minutes, as Charlotte opened up a 14-point lead.
The Huntington Hounds, though, would not go down without a fight. A layup by Banegas-Flores, followed by a Marshvelski steal and two Walker free throws, ignited an 11-2 Northeastern run. Walker scored five points during the run, and Marshavelski four, to make it 36-31 with just under 14 minutes to play.
Charlotte responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to push the lead back to 13, 44-31. A three by Smith and two free throws from Spencer kept NU within striking distance.
A back-and-forth affair ensued, with the lead ranging from six to 10 points, over the next eight minutes. That's when the Huskies made one final push.
Trailing by 10 with two minutes remaining, Pollard connected from beyond the arc. Following a Charlotte free throw, Walker made good on a triple from the right side to trim the lead to five, 61-56, with just under a minute to go. After two more 49ers free throws, Smith hit his fifth three of the evening, and the Huskies were in the hunt, down just four with 0:28 to go. But that was as close as they would get.
Northeastern scored 40 second-half points, the most points surrender by Charlotte in a half this season.
For the game, Northeastern shot a season-low 35 percent from the floor. The Huskies went 36 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free throw line. Charlotte connected on 50 percent from the field, 27 percent from beyond the arc, and 81 percent from the charity stripe.
For NU, Smith and Ford were named to the all-tournament team.
The Huskies return to action on Wednesday when they host New England rival Maine at historic Matthews Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. For tickets, visit
GoNU.com/tickets.
Game notes
> Northeastern has appeared in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout in both of its trips to the nation's longest-running regular-season tournament (1986, 2012)
>
Joel Smith's five 3-pointers upped his career total to 179 — just one shy of tying Chaisson Allen for third-most in program history
> Smith has scored in double figures in five of NU's six games this season
> Smith has made at least one 3-pointer in 55 of NU's last 58 games
>
David Walker scored a career-high 13 points; he was nearly perfect for the game, going 3-for-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line
> NU collected a season-high 10 steals
2012 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
Chris Braswell, Charlotte
Ian Clark, Belmont
Quincy Ford, Northeastern
Kyle Fossman, Alaska Anchorage
Anthony Ireland, Loyola Marymount
Terrence Williams, Charlotte
Warren Niles, Oral Roberts
Trevor Noack, Belmont
Joel Smith, Northeastern
Teancum Stafford, Alaska Anchorage
Most Outstanding Player: Pierria Henry, Charlotte
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