Box Score
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Playing in its second National Invitation Tournament in four seasons, Northeastern (20-13) entered Tuesday night's game at No. 1 seed Alabama (22-12) as a decided underdog. The Huskies, who endured a 20-hour trip to Tuscaloosa and were without the services of leading-scorer
Joel Smith, who was sidelined with an injury, were slow out of the gate. But after a spirited first half rally and four straight points from senior
Jonathan Lee to open the second half, NU trailed by just one. Alabama then held the Huskies scoreless for nearly nine minutes to end the upset bid, defeating Northeastern 62-43.
Lee, playing in his final game in a Northeastern uniform, displayed the grit and courage that has endeared him to Northeastern fans throughout his four years on Huntington Avenue. The Flint, Mich., native scored a game-high 13 points on 45 percent (4-11) shooting from the floor and 50 percent (3-6) from beyond the arc. He handed out a team-high three assists and collected four rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
Tuscaloosa native
Reggie Spencer also registered double-figure points for the Huskies, scoring 10 while grabbing five rebounds in his Alabama homecoming.
Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Fla.) corralled a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points, while freshman
Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) added six points.
Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) tallied five, and
David Walker (Stow, Ohio) three to round out the scoring. Sophomore
Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) added two rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Levi Randolph scored 13 points to lead Alabama. He was joined in double figures by Trevor Lacey with 11.
Alabama wasted little time capitalizing on a sluggish start by the Huskies. After Walker gave NU its only lead of the game on a 3-pointer just over a minute into the action, the Tide rolled to a 15-0 run and a 17-3 lead with 13:19 to play in the half. Alabama pushed the lead to 17, at 24-7, just five minutes later.
Undaunted,
Bill Coen's squad rallied. Spencer hit a jumper, then Stahl and Pollard followed with layups to force a Tide timeout. But the Huskies continued to surge. Spencer hit another jumper and Ford added a free throw to cap a 9-0 run that made the score 24-16. Alabama sandwiched a basket and two free throws around a Stahl lay-in to push the margin to 10 with just under two minutes remaining. Northeastern, though, scored the final five points of the half on two Ford free throws and a Lee 3-pointer to trail by just five at the break, 28-23.
Lee hit a layup and jumper less than 90 seconds into the second half to bring the upset-minded Huskies to within just one, 28-27. Lee's second basket capped a 20-4 NU run that bridged halftime.
Randolph answered with a basket for the Tide and, after an NU 3-pointer that would have tied the game went halfway down before rattling out, Lacey beat the shot clock with a deep 3-pointer of his own that ignited a Tide run. All told, Alabama strung together 22 straight points to take a 50-27 lead with 10:24 remaining in the game.
Following a Coen timeout, the Huskies scored eight of the game's next 10 points to close to within 52-35 with 8:09 to play. Stahl hit a jumper and Pollard and Lee both dialed in from beyond the arc to account for the NU scoring.
Alabama regained its footing to push the lead back to 20, but the Huskies continued to fight. Spencer hit a free throw and a jumper and, after two UA free throws, Lee again hit from downtown to make the score 58-42 with just over two minutes remaining. NU, though, could get no closer, as Alabama closed out the 62-43 victory.
Northeastern finished its historic season at 20-13, equaling the highest win total in eight years. The 20-win season was the second under Coen and the 13th in program history. The Huskies won the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular-season title and advanced to the championship game of the CAA tournament. The regular-season title was NU's first since joining the conference and the program's first conference crown in 20 years. The tournament title-game appearance also was a first for the program since joining the CAA in 2005-06.
For Lee and Smith, Tuesday night's game closed a remarkable and memorable four-year run for the backcourt duo. Together, the two-year co-captains combined to play 6,192 minutes, score 2,489 points, dish 541 assists, hit 351 3-point field goals, play in 218 combined games, make 168 combined starts, collect 65 total wins, and lead NU to its first CAA title.
Smith finishes his career as one of the best pure shooters in Northeastern history. He holds the all-time program record for career free-throw percentage (.851), and is second in career 3-point field goals made (243), third in 3-point attempts (609), third in 3-point percentage (.399), and 13th in career scoring. This season, he set the NU single-season record for 3-pointers with 83 and his 3-point percentage (.430) ranks as the sixth-best all-time. His free throw percentage on the year (.862) is the third-best single-season mark ever at NU. Smith also holds a number of single-game marks that rank among the top three in program history, including free throw percentage, 3-point field goals made, 3-point attempts, and 3-point percentage.
Lee will long be remembered for the versatility of his game. He finishes his career second all-time at NU in career 3-point percentage (.404), sixth in career free throw percentage (.798), and 20th in career scoring. He holds the record for the all-time best single-season performance from 3-point range (.472) and registered the sixth-best single-season performance at the free throw line (.846). Lee also owns the single-game record for free throws made (18) and holds the third-best single-game mark for free throw attempts (20).
Game notes
The NIT appearance was the second in four seasons for Northeastern and the third postseason berth in the last five years … senior
Joel Smith was medically unavailable for the game due to an injury sustained during the CAA tournament …
Jonathan Lee scored in double figures for the 17th time this season and the 65th time in his career …
Reggie Spencer, making his Tuscaloosa homecoming, scored in double figures for the 15th time this season and the 25th time in his career … NU registered its lowest point-total of the season (43)
.
