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Postgame press conference
BOSTON — The Northeastern Huskies remained undefeated in Colonial Athletic Association play, pulling away from second-place George Mason, 71-51, on Sunday night at historic Matthews Arena in Boston.
Joel Smith (Leander, Texas) and
Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.) paced the Huskies with 15 points apiece to extend NU's program-record start in CAA play to 8-0 (13-7 overall).
Mason entered the game with the league's best scoring defense, but it was the NU defense that was the story. The Huskies limited the Patriots to just 34 percent shooting. Mason's 51-point total was its second lowest of the season and the lowest by an NU opponent.
After a slow start for both teams, Northeastern pushed out to a seven-point lead near the midway point of the first half. Mason battled back to take a brief lead before NU closed the half on a 12-3 run to take a 29-21 lead into the break. The Huskies enjoyed a double-digit lead for much of the second half until an 11-2 spurt by the visitors cut the margin to just four, 49-45, with six minutes remaining. From there, it was all Northeastern as the Huskies closed the game on a dominating 22-6 run to secure the win.
Sophomore forward
Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) tallied 14 points and six rebounds, while junior center
Dinko Marshavelski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) added a season-high 11 points to round out a quartet of Huskies to reach double figures. Senior
Jonathan Lee (Flint, Mich.) and freshman
David Walker (Stow, Ohio) chipped in with seven points each, while
Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) rounded out the CAA's top-scoring offense with two points. Ford equaled a game high with seven rebounds, as NU out-rebounded Mason, 36-29. Smith added six rebounds and a game-high six assists, which tied his career best.
Vertrail Vaughns scored 13 points off the bench and Sherrod Wright tallied 12 points to lead the Patriots (12-8, 5-3 CAA).
Leading 29-21 at the half, the Huskies extended their lead to 13 points with just over 10 minutes to play. Mason, though, responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a Wright 3-pointer, that cut the deficit to just four, 49-45, with 6:34 to go. But that was as close as the Patriots would get.
The freshman Walker continued his clutch play, hitting a momentum-turning 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to make it a seven-point game, and the Huskies never looked back.
Walker's basket ignited a 10-0 Northeastern run. Ford followed with two free throws, Smith nailed a triple, and Lee converted an offensive rebound to push the score to 59-45 with 4:05 remaining.
Vaughns hit two jumpers for the Patriots to keep the visitors' comeback hopes alive. But the Huskies' co-captains, Smith and Lee, dashed those hopes with back-to-back threes that launched NU on a 12-2 game-closing run. Mason's Jonathan Arledge hit a jumper to answer the Smith and Lee threes, but NU went 6-for-6 at the line down the stretch to ice the game. Walker, Ford and Spencer each hit a pair for NU in the closing moments.
In the first half, Smith and Ford paced the Huskies early until a Marshavelski turnaround gave NU a 9-2 advantage after the first 7:13 of action. NU held the lead until the 7:54 mark, when Mason's Patrick Holloway put the Patriots ahead for first time with a three to make it 13-11.
With the game knotted at 17 with 5:34 remaining, NU stormed to a 12-2 run to take a 29-21 halftime lead. Smith led all scorers with nine first half points, while Marshavelski had eight points, connecting on all four of his attempts from the floor.
For the game, the Huskies shot 53 percent (25-47) from the field, including an impressive 47 percent (14-20) from beyond the arc. NU also made 20 trips to the free-throw line, making 14 (70 percent). Meanwhile, Mason was held to just 34 percent (20-59) shooting and 23 percent (4-17) from three. The Patriots shot 64 percent (7-11) from the charity stripe.
Coaching staffs from both programs participated in the 10th annual Coaches vs. Cancer “Suits and Sneakers” weekend, donning sneakers with their game attire. NU head coach
Bill Coen, who pledged before the game to donate $1 to the American Cancer Society for every Northeastern student in attendance, will make a gift of more than $1,000 to support the fight against cancer. The Huskies are now 7-0 in “Suits and Sneakers” games under Coen.
Northeastern will play the third game of a four-game home stand on Wednesday night, when it welcomes Georgia State to Matthews Arena for a 7 p.m. tip. NU leads the all-time series, 9-5. The squads split the season series a year ago.
Game notes
> Northeastern's current eight-game winning streak is the longest since NU won 11 in a row during the 2009-10 season
> NU has won four in a row at home after going 1-5 in its first six home games
> The Huskies are 7-0 in “Suits and Sneakers” games under head coach
Bill Coen
> NU held Mason to its second-lowest point total of the season and the lowest by an NU opponent
> Mason's 33.9 percent shooting was the lowest by an NU opponent this season
> NU has tallied at least 15 assists in seven of eight conference games this season
> NU has outscored opponents in points off turnovers in seven of eight conference games this season
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Dinko Marshavelski set a season high with 11 points
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Joel Smith tied a career high with six assists
> Smith scored in double figures for the fifth straight game and the 16th time this season
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Quincy Ford scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and the 16th time this season
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Reggie Spencer scored in double figures for the 12th time this season
> Marshavelski scored in double figures for the second time this season
Men's Basketball: .
