Box Score
WATCH: Game highlights
WATCH: Postgame press conference (Bill Coen, Joel Smith, Demetrius Pollard)

BOSTON — Northeastern senior Joel Smith (Leander, Texas) poured in a game-high 23 points and sophomore Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored a career-best 17 to lead Northeastern (7-7, 2-0 CAA) to a 68-64 Colonial Athletic Association victory over UNCW (5-9, 0-2 CAA) on Saturday afternoon at historic Matthews Arena in Boston.

The game featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes over the first 29 minutes, until a Smith 3-pointer with 11 minutes remaining gave the Huskies a lead they would not relinquish. Smith, who was held to single-digits at UAB and George Mason, now has gone 61 games without failing to reach double figures in three consecutive outings.

Jonathan Lee (Flint, Mich.) added 10 points to give NU three players in double figures. Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) followed with nine points, Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.) with seven, and Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) with two. Spencer pulled down a team-best six rebounds while Lee tied for the game-high with five assists and swiped a game-best four steals.

Tanner Milson scored 20 points to lead UNCW. Preseason All-CAA first team selection Keith Rendleman registered a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Cedrick Williams added 12 points.

With his team trailing 34-32 at the half, UNCW's Rendleman opened the second-half scoring with two free throws to knot the contest, 34-34. A Freddie Jackson jumper gave the visitors the lead before an old-fashioned three-point play by Spencer put the Huskies back on top, 37-36, just two minutes into the half. Lee added a free throw to push the edge to two less than a minute later.

The next five minutes of play featured four ties, with the squads matching each other basket for basket. Jackson hit a layup for the Seahawks to tie the game. Spencer then added a lay-in for NU, which was answered by a layup by UNCW's Chris Dixon. Pollard dialed in from deep, hitting one of his three 3-pointers, but Milson answered for the Seahawks. Smith then converted a layup for the home-side, but Williams responded in kind for the visitors, to again knot the score, this time at 45-45, with 12:19 to play.

Just over 30 seconds later, after a Huskies miss, Milson hit one of his game-high six 3-pointers to give UNCW its largest lead of the half, 48-45.

The Huskies responded, rattling off eight straight points to seize control of the contest. Pollard hit a jumper to narrow the gap to one, and Smith followed with a three to give NU the lead for good. Smith added two free throws and Lee added one from the line to push the Huskies advantage to 53-48 with 9:06 to play.

Williams hit two free throws for UNCW to end the run, but Ford connected from long range to give NU a six-point lead, 56-50, with just over eight minutes remaining.

After a quick 5-0 Seahawks run cut the margin to just one point, sophomores Pollard and Ford added back-to-back layups to make the score 60-55 with 4:32 left.

UNCW's Williams connected on a tip-in to make it a one-possession game. Moments later, a superb defensive stop by Ford resulted in a Smith layup in transition and a five-point NU lead.

The Seahawks continued to battle, but the Huskies made just enough free throws down the stretch to put the game away and claim their second conference win in just three days.

Pollard and Smith both reached double figures before halftime to lead NU's first-half charge. Pollard, who was perfect from the field on Thursday at Mason, connected on consecutive 3-pointers to give NU an 18-15 lead at the midway point of the first half.

UNCW's Tanner Wilson drained a three of his own to put the Seahawks ahead at 22-20, and a layup extended their lead to four, matching their largest lead of the game.

NU answered with a Pollard layup and Smith followed with his first triple of the game to put the Huskies back in the lead, 25-24. The NU run continued as Smith corralled a steal that led to a Pollard lay-in and, moments later, Pollard assisted on a Smith jumper to give the Red and Black a five-point edge, 29-24, with just over four minutes left in the half. Smith's bucket capped a 9-0 NU run.

UNCW, though, responded with six straight points to regain the lead before a 5-2 NU spurt sent the Huskies to the locker room with a 34-32 advantage.

For the game, Northeastern shot 43 percent (22-51) from the floor, including 33 percent (7-21) from 3-point range. The Huskies were 71 percent (17-24) from the free throw line. UNCW connected on 49 percent (25-51) from the floor, 44 percent (7-16) from beyond the arc, and 87 percent (7-8) from the line. The Seahawks out-rebounded NU, 34-24. The Huskies, who turned the ball over just seven times, including only two second-half miscues, scored 25 points off 18 UNCW turnovers.

Northeastern returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 8, when the Huskies visit CAA preseason favorite Drexel in Philadelphia at 7 p.m. That game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet New England, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Comcast / Charter Sports Southeast, and the Comcast Network (Philadelphia).

Game notes
> Northeastern is 2-0 in CAA play for the first time since 2008-09 and for just the third time since joining the conference in 2005 (2005-06, 2008-09, 2012-13)
> NU now owns a 7-4 advantage over UNCW in the all-time series
> Demetrius Pollard set a new career high with 17 points
> Joel Smith, who was limited to single-digit points at UAB and George Mason, has gone 61 straight games without failing to reach double figures in three straight outings
> Smith, the CAA's top-ranked free throw shooter, was a perfect 8-8 at the line
> Smith was honored before the game as NU's latest 1,000-point scorer
> Jonathan Lee has scored in double figures in every game since returning from a preseason foot injury
> Lee swiped a season-high four steals