Box Score   |  Post-game press conference

NEW ORLEANS—The Northeastern Huskies stormed back from a 20-point second-half deficit to defeat UW Milwaukee, 62-59, on Saturday night at the Westin Holiday Classic in New Orleans. Junior Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa.) notched his NCAA-leading ninth double-double of the season, and fourth in a row, with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Huskies.

Trailing by 20 with just over 13 minutes left to play at Tulane's Devlin Fieldhouse, NU responded with a 27-6 run to take its first lead of the game with just under three minutes showing on the clock. The Huskies (3-8) then converted crucial free throw opportunities down the stretch to defeat a Milwaukee (9-4) team that had won five of its last six games. Eatherton scored NU's last nine points and iced the game at the free throw line in a dramatic final three minutes that featured four lead changes and two ties.

Bill Coen's Huskies, who earned the nickname Cardiac Canines a season ago, overcame a double-digit deficit to claim victory for the second time this season and the ninth time over the last two years.

Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) joined Eatherton in double figures with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. David Walker (Stow, Ohio) tallied nine points, Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) scored eight. Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) chipped in six points to go with seven rebounds. T.J. Williams and Derrico Peck each added four points to round out the scoring.

Jordan Aaron scored 14 points to lead four Milwaukee players in double figures. Kyle Kelm and Matt Tiby each added 11, while Austin Arians tallied 10.

Milwaukee capitalized on NU's poor first-half shooting and rode a 10-0 run into the locker room to take a 19-point lead at the half.

The Huskies raced to a 9-2 run out of the break to quickly cut the margin to 12, 38-36, at the 16:33 mark. Spencer ignited the run with a dunk on the opening possession. Eatherton followed with a free throw and Walker bookended a layup and a transition dunk around a Williams jumper.

Milwaukee, however, countered with an 8-0 run and seemed to be in control, holding a game-high 20-point lead, 46-26, with 13:34 to go.

From there, it was all Northeastern.

Eatherton hit a layup, Pollard a 3-pointer, and Williams a tip-in to spark an 18-2 NU run. Followig a Malcolm Moore jumper for UWM, Pollard dialed in again from deep. Peck, Stahl, and Spencer followed with layups, and Stahl converted a finger roll that cut the lead to four, 48-44, with 6:21 to go.

The Panthers' Aaron and Tiby sandwiched baskets around a Walker three to temporarily slow the NU roll, but three straight layups from Peck, Eatherton, and Stahl handed the Huskies their first lead of the game, 53-52, with 2:58 showing on the Devlin Fieldhouse clock.

With the game in the balance, Eatherton carried the Huskies home. The redshirt junior scored NU's final nine points, going 2-of-2 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the free throw line to secure the 62-59 win.

For the game, Northeastern shot 44 percent (24-54) from the floor, including 58 percent in the second half. The Huskies shot 24 percent (5-21) from beyond the arc and 69 percent (9-13) from the free throw line. Milwaukee converted 43 percent (25-58) of its attempts from the floor. The Panthers shot 25 percent (5-20) from 3-point range and 67 percent (4-6) from the charity stripe. NU won the battle of the boards, 38-30.

The Huskies will return to action on Sunday at 6 p.m. (ET) to face host Tulane in the final game of the Westin Holiday Classic at Devlin Fieldhouse. A live stream of the game will be available at TulaneGreenWave.com.


GAME NOTES
> Scott Eatherton (20 points, 10 rebounds) posted his ninth double-double of the season, and fourth in a row
> Eatherton registered his eighth straight double-figure scoring game
> Demetrius Pollard (11 points) scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and the eighth time in his career
> Marco Banegas-Flores set a new career high with four assists
> Jimmy Marshall set new career highs for rebounds (5) and assists (2)
> Zach Stahl tied a career high for steals (2)
> T.J. Williams tied career highs for assists (4) and steals (1)
> For the second time this season and the ninth time in the last two years, Northeastern overcame a double-digit deficit to claim victory (six were second half deficits)
> NU held Milwaukee to 23 second-half points; the fewest points in a half by an NU opponent since limiting Georgetown to 20 second-half points on Nov. 21 in a 63-56 NU win
> NU's 17 first-half points were the fewest in a half since Jan. 5, 2011 (16 in the first half at Old Dominion)
> Northeastern improved to 1-0 all-time against Milwaukee and 5-4 all-time against current members of the Horizon League


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