Box Score
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GoNUxstream Game Recap - Dec. 8 - Men's Basketball vs. La Salle
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Northeastern Men's Basketball - Dec. 8 - Postgame Press Conference
BOSTON—The Northeastern men's basketball team lost a hotly-contested game to visiting La Salle, 66-64, on Saturday night at historic Matthews Arena. Trailing 64-60 with just over two minutes to play, the Huskies (4-5) battled back to tie the contest before a Tyreek Duren jumper with less than two seconds remaining gave the Explorers (6-1) the dramatic victory. NU had one final chance as
Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) threw a perfect court-long pass to
Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.), who, despite contact, got off a shot that rimmed out at the buzzer.
Sophomore forward
Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead NU, while freshman Stahl netted 12 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting.
Joel Smith (Leander, Texas) added 11 points and
Dinko Marshavelski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) scored a season-high 10 in 15 minutes of action to give the Huskies four double-digit scorers for the fourth time in the last five games. Ford added eight points and seven rebounds, while
David Walker (Stow, Ohio) scored six and
Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) one.
The Huskies, though, could not overcome a 24-point performance from La Salle's Ramon Galloway. Galloway hit a game-high four 3-pointers, some from well beyond the arc. Jerrell Wright added 13 points and Duren, the Explorers' leading scorer, registered 12, all in the second half.
NIT participants a year ago, La Salle held a narrow two point lead at the break, in a game that featured six lead changes and seven ties. While the Explorers led for nearly all of the second half, NU would not let them pull away.
After La Salle took its largest lead of the game—seven points—with just under 11 minutes to play, the Huskies came charging back. Spencer started the run with a tip-in. Banegas-Flores made one-of-two free throws and Ford drove and dunked to pull the home side to within two, 55-53, with just under nine minutes left to play. Duren and Smith then traded 3-pointers and the margin was again two.
Duren's 3-pointer was La Salle's only field goal over an eight-minute stretch, from 11:04 to 2:54, as the Huskies defense clamped down.
After a series of free throws put the visitors up four, 62-58, Marshavelski knocked down two free throws to again make it a one-possession game with just over 3:00 remaining.
La Salle's Wright then hit a layup to end the Explorers' field-goal drought and push the lead back to four, 64-60. Stahl calmly answered with two free throws 15 seconds later, and Ford hit a floater at 1:19 to tie the score, 64-64, and set the stage for the dramatic finish.
Following an NU turnover, La Salle took possession with just over 35 seconds remaining. The Explorers ran down the clock and called timeout with 11 seconds showing. Out of the timeout, Duren drove the left side and hit a contested shot that proved to be the game-winner.
In a back-and-forth first half, Northeastern used an 18-5 run midway through the period to turn a six-point deficit into a seven-point lead, 28-21, at the 7:55 mark. The visitors slowly chipped away at the lead and tied the game with 3:26 to play before halftime. Spencer scored to put NU up two, but La Salle registered the last four points of the half to take a slim two-point lead into the locker room. Only two opponents—Villanova and Central Connecticut State—played La Salle closer over the first 20 minutes of a game this season.
For the game, Northeastern shot an impressive 55 percent (28-51) from the floor, but struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 25 percent (3-12). The Huskies attempted just seven free throws—their fewest in nearly two years—making five (71 percent). La Salle shot 50 percent (25-50) for the game, including 39 percent (7-18) from 3-point range. The Explorers were 82 percent from the charity stripe (9-11). NU out-rebounded La Salle, 27-21.
The Huskies will take a nine-day break from competition to focus on final exams, before welcoming UNC Asheville to Matthews Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 18, for the final game of a four-game home stand. Tipoff with the Bulldogs is set for noon. Tickets are available at GoNU.com/tickets and, for NU students, on myNEU.
Game notes
> Northeastern had four double-figure scorers for the fourth time in the last five games
> NU out-rebounded an opponent for the fourth time this season, and is 2-2 in those games
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Reggie Spencer continued his impressive play with a team-high 16 points; the sophomore forward has scored in double figures in three straight games and in seven of nine games this season
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Dinko Marshavelski scored a season-high 10 points—his fourth career double-figure scoring effort
> With 11 points,
Joel Smith moved just 24 points away from becoming the 31st player in NU history to score 1,000 career points
> Smith was 3-of-7 from 3-point range and has made at least one three in 57 of his last 61 games
> NU tied a season-high with 16 assists
> The Huskies' seven free-throw attempts were the fewest in nearly two years (six FTA on Jan. 19, 2011, in a 54-52 loss at Delaware) .
