Box Score |
Post-game press conference
HARRISONBURG, Va.—The Northeastern men's basketball team raced to a 15-point first-half lead and never trailed in a 56-52 win over James Madison on Wednesday night in Harrisonburg, Va.
Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pa.) posted his NCAA-leading 14th double-double — and fourth straight — with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead Northeastern (5-13, 2-2 CAA).
NU scored the game's first 10 points and led by as many as 15 before taking a 10-point advantage into the half. JMU (6-12, 1-3 CAA) methodically cut into the lead and closed to within one point before
David Walker hit a baseline jumper from the left side, reminiscent of his game-winner over the Dukes a season ago, and the Huskies closed out the game at the free throw line.
Walker (Stow, Ohio) and
Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored 12 points each to join Eatherton in double figures.
Reggie Spencer (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) tallied six points and eight rebounds, while
Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn) added five points in his first start of the season.
T.J. Williams (Pflugerville, Texas) and
Marco Banegas-Flores (Boston, Mass.) scored four and three points, respectively, off the bench.
Andre Nation registered a game-high 16 points to lead the Dukes, while Charles Cooke contributed 14 points.
Northeastern opened the game on fire, connecting on its first five shot attempts to race to a 10-0 lead. Walker, one of four Huskies to score during the onslaught, capped the run when he took a defensive rebound the length of the floor for a lay-in to force an early JMU timeout.
The Dukes responded with five straight points, but Eatherton — who is shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc on the season — stroked a three from the top of the key to ignite a 12-6 NU run. Minutes later, with the lead at 10, Eatherton scored four straight points and Walker followed with a free throw to give NU a game-high 15-point lead, 33-18, with 2:29 to play in the half.
The Dukes, though, were not deterred, scoring the final five points of the half, all on second-chance opportunities, to draw to within 10, 33-23, at the break.
James Madison rode the momentum into the second half, using a 7-3 spurt to close to within 36-30 less than four minutes into the half. The Huskies then went back inside to regain their footing, as Spencer and Eatherton sandwiched layups around a Tom Vodanovich basket to push the advantage back to eight.
With the lead still at six with six minutes to play, the home-standing Dukes made their run. Cooke started the spurt with a three-point play and, when Nation laid the ball in with 2:11 to play, the Huskies' lead was just one, 48-47, and the vocal Convocation Center crowd was on its feet.
That's when Walker delivered his flashback shot. A year ago, as a freshman, he collected a feed across the baseline and drilled a 15-footer on the left side with two seconds left to defeat the Dukes and deliver Northeastern its 11th conference regular-season title. This time, in an eerily similar play, it was a freshman, Williams, driving the baseline and sliding a pass to Walker, who hit a 19-footer from the left baseline late in the shot clock. The shot stopped the Dukes cold.
On the ensuing possession,
Chris Avenant (Sacrameto, Calif.) made an acrobatic play to corral a defensive rebound, then rifled a pass to Pollard who absorbed contact and finished a transition layup to deflate the Dukes and put the game out of reach. Walker made three free throws, and Pollard one, down the stretch to secure the win.
The Huskies shot 45 percent (20-44) from the floor, 27 percent (4-15) from 3-point range, and 52 percent (12-23) from the free throw line. NU limited James Madison to just 37 percent (19-51) shooting, including 12 percent (2-16) from beyond the arc. JMU connected on 12-of-22 free-throw attempts (54 percent). Northeastern out-rebounded the Dukes, 36-30.
The Huskies will return home on Saturday when they welcome Delaware to historic Matthews Arena. Tip-off on Comcast is set for noon. Delaware leads the all-time series 23-19, but the Huskies are 12-4 against the Blue Hens in CAA regular-season play. For ticket information, visit GoNU.com/tickets.
Game notes
> Northeastern improved to 12-4 all-time against James Madison, including 5-2 in games played in Harrisonburg
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Scott Eatherton posted his NCAA-leading 14th double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds); it was Eatherton's fourth straight double-double
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David Walker (12 points) scored in double figures for the 11th time this season
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Demetrius Pollard (12 points) hit double figures for the eighth time this season
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Reggie Spencer (eight rebounds) notched his 11th straight game with five or more rebounds
> The win gave Northeastern its first true road victory of the season
> Northeastern improved to 3-3 when leading at the half
> The Huskies, who last season went 13-4 in games decided by five points or less, improved to 2-7 this season in such games
> NU improved to 3-1 when holding an opponent under 60 points
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