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BOSTON—Double-doubles by Scott Eatherton (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Reggie Spencer (10 points, 15 rebounds) helped the Northeastern men's basketball team open CAA play with a 79-68 overtime victory over UNCW on Wednesday night at Matthews Arena.

Northeastern (4-11, 1-0) led by eight in the final minute of regulation, before a frantic UNCW (6-11, 0-2) comeback sent the game to overtime tied at 58-apiece. The Huskies, last year's CAA regular-season champions, quickly turned the tide back in their favor, however, outscoring the Seahawks, 21-10, in the extra session to open conference play at 1-0.

Eatherton (Hershey, Pa.), who secured his NCAA-leading 11th double-double, led all scorers with 20 points and paced a balanced attack for the Huskies. Spencer (Tuscalossa, Ala.) set a new career high with 15 boards and scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season. Sophomore David Walker (Stow, Ohio) poured in 18 points, while junior Demetrius Pollard (Virginia Beach, Va.) added 17 points and went 8-for-9 at the foul line.

Chris Dixon led the Seahawks with 15 points and was joined in double-figure scoring by Freddie Jackson (13 points), Cedrick Williams (11) and Addison Spruill (10).

Northeastern was out-rebounded by a 40-38 margin, but forced 16 UNCW turnovers and scored 19 points off the Seahawks' miscues. The Huskies also hit 26-of-37 free throws (70.3 percent), including 13 of their last 14 in overtime to seal the victory.

After a sluggish start by both teams, Eatherton brought the crowd to its feet midway through the first half with a powerful two-hand slam, plus the foul, to give Northeastern an early 14-13 lead.

The Huskies defense took over from there, limiting UNCW to just four points over the final eight minutes of the frame. The Seahawks missed their last nine shots of the stanza and scored their final points of the half on a pair of free throws by Dixon with 4:55 to play on the clock.

With its defense holding UNCW in check, Northeastern turned to Eatherton to jumpstart the offense. The junior responded with a pair of tough buckets in the closing minutes of the half, including an off-balance layup that gave NU a 21-19 lead with 2:30 to play. A mid-range floater by Walker extended the lead to four, before a pair of free throws by Pollard gave the hosts a 25-19 advantage heading into the locker room.

Undeterred, UNCW came out of the break on a 12-0 run, reclaiming the lead at 31-25 with 14:30 showing on the second-half clock. During the stretch, Northeastern missed all five of its shots and turned the ball over four times, allowing the stagnant Seahawks offense to find its rhythm.

The Huskies finally snapped the drought when Walker drained a huge triple at the 14-minute mark to bring NU within three at 31-28. The basket gave the Huskies new life as Northeastern proceeded to rattle off eight straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from Eatherton, to take a two-point lead with 12 minutes remaining.

The Huskies continued to lean on their outside shooting to pull away in the final 10 minutes. Pollard led the charge with back-to-back triples, before a 3-pointer from freshman T.J. Williams (Pflugerville, Texas) gave NU a 44-38 advantage with 7:23 to play.

Sophomore Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minn.) energized the Huskies down the stretch, contributing six points and injecting a much-needed spark into the offensive set. Stahl's final basket, a layup with 1:40 remaining in the second half, gave Northeastern an eight-point cushion at 56-48.

But again, UNCW had a response. Trailing 58-50 with 53 seconds left, the Seahawks rattled off an improbable comeback, hitting a pair of triples to cut the score to 58-56, before tying the game at the foul line with eight seconds to play.

After letting the game slip away once, the Huskies were not about to do so again in overtime. An alley-oop layup by Walker opened the OT scoring and Northeastern never looked back in the extra session to earn its first win at Matthews Arena this season.

For the game, Northeastern shot 43 percent (23-54) from the floor, 39 percent (7-18) from long range, and 70 percent (26-37) from the free-throw line. UNCW connected on 40 percent (27-68) of its attempts from the field, but shot just 29 percent (4-14) from beyond the arc. The Seahawks shot 83 percent (10-12) from the line.

Northeastern will travel to Drexel on Saturday for its first CAA road game of the season. The Huskies defeated the Dragons twice a year ago, including a memorable 63-58 overtime victory in Philadelphia. Tip-off at the DAC is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be carried live on Comcast SportsNet New England, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic-plus, Comcast Network (Philadelphia), and SportsNet New York.


Game notes
> Scott Eatherton posted his NCAA-leading 11th double-double of the season
> Eatherton scored at least 20 points for the eighth time this season
> Reggie Spencer secured his second double-double of the season (Nov. 22 vs. Charlotte)
> Spencer corralled a career-high 15 rebounds
> Northeastern won its first January CAA game for the fifth time in the last six years
> The Huskies have won 11 of their last 13 January games overall
> NU is now 6-1 all-time against UNCW at home
> Wednesday's game was NU's first overtime action of the season; the Huskies last OT game was against Delaware on Feb. 13, 2013
> Northeastern is 5-1 in overtime games over the last two seasons
> Northeastern had two players post double-doubles in the same game for the second time this season (Eatherton and Spencer, Nov. 22 vs. Charlotte)


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