Box Score   |  Post-Game Press Conference

BOSTON—Northeastern (5-1) raced to a 17-point first-half lead and never trailed in a 57-48 win over Fairfield (2-4) in men's basketball action on Saturday at Cabot Center in Boston. With the victory, coach Bill Coen's Huskies secured the first-ever five-win November in program history.

Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pennsylvania) scored a game-high 18 points and corralled a team-best seven rebounds to lead the NU effort. It was Eatherton's fifth consecutive double-figure scoring game. Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minnesota) and T.J. Williams (Pflugerville, Texas) also scored in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Stahl, Williams, and Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Florida) grabbed six rebounds apiece for NU, which won the rebounding battle, 36-35. David Walker (Stow, Ohio) dished a game-best five assists.

Marcus Gilbert and K.J. Rose scored nine points each, while Amadou Sidibe grabbed a game-high 11 boards for Fairfield.

The Huskies surged to a 17-point halftime lead behind one of their best defensive first halves in nearly five years. Northeastern limited Fairfield to just 16 points on 24 percent shooting and forced nine Stags turnovers. The 16 points were the fewest by an NU opponent in a first half since the Huskies held Drexel to just 15 on Feb. 11, 2009.

NU, meanwhile, handled the Stags full-court pressure and half-court zone, and shot 46 percent for the half. The Huntington Hounds hit three of their first four shots to take a quick 9-2 lead. After the Stags closed the margin to two on a lay-up by Rose, the Huskies ripped off a commanding 16-3 run to take a 25-10 lead with five minutes remaining before the half. Six different Huskies scored during the run, representative of the unselfish play that has been the NU trademark this season. Coen's squad then outscored Fairfield 8-6 down the stretch to take a 33-16 lead at the break.

The momentum continued, as Eatherton was dominant for the Huskies to open the second half, scoring the team's first seven points on a traditional three-point play and a series of dunks. The run pushed the lead to 40-20 less than three minutes into the half.

Fairfield responded with a 14-6 rally to close the gap to 12, at 46-34, and force a Northeastern timeout. The Huskies, though, answered the Stags' run, showing great ball movement that finished with a three by Walker from the left corner. The NU defense then forced back-to-back turnovers and capitalized on both, with Eatherton and Stahl lay-ups, to push the margin back to 19, 53-34, with seven minutes to play.

The visitors, however, would not go quietly, and closed the margin to seven, 55-48, on a 3-pointer by Steve Smith with 53 seconds to play. But the Huskies regained their composure and scored the game's final two points from the free throw line to set the final score at 57-48.

Northeastern shot 43 percent (21-49) from the floor and 67 percent (12-18) from the free throw line. NU struggled from beyond the arc for the second game in a row, connecting on just 21 percent (3-14) of its attempts. The Huskies limited Fairfield to just 35 percent (20-57) shooting, including 29 percent (5-17) from long range. NU sent the Stags to the line just four times (3-4, 75 percent).

Northeastern will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 3, when it travels to crosstown foe Harvard for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Lavietes Pavilion on NESN. The meeting will be the 51st between the programs. The Crimson won a season ago at Matthews Arena, but the Huskies have won three of the last five head-to-head match-ups, including a 76-71 double-overtime road affair on Dec. 10, 2008.

GAME NOTES
> Northeastern (5-1) reached five wins in the month of November for the first time in program history
> Northeastern is 5-1 for just the 11th time in program history, and for just the fourth time since the NCAA went to a three-division format following the 1972-73 season
> NU improved to 9-2 against Fairfield
> Scott Eatherton registered his fifth consecutive double-figure scoring game with a game-high 18 points
> Northeastern allowed just 16 first half points, the fewest by an NU opponent in a first half since limiting Drexel to 15 on Feb. 11, 2009
> Northeastern tallied 14 assists; the Huskies have had double-digit assists in every game this season
> NU improved to 64-9 under Bill Coen when leading by five or more points at the half