BOSTON- As one of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association this season, the Northeastern men's basketball program will look to earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1991.
 
From 1981 to 1991, the men's basketball team made it to the NCAA Tournament seven times, including four straight seasons during the Reggie Lewis era (1984-1987). After a three-year hiatus, the Huskies returned to the tournament in 1991, marking the team's most recent NCAA Tournament appearance to date. The Huskies, ranked 16th in the Eastern region, fell to the East's top seed, North Carolina, by a score of 101-66 in the first round.
 
Former North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Coach of the Year Karl Fogel led his team to a 22-11 record in the 1990-91 season, including 8-2 in the NAC (now the America East).
 
After finishing first in the regular season, the team captured its seventh NAC Tournament championship with a pair of wins over Hartford and Maine at Matthews Arena. The Huskies earned a first-round bye, then rolled to a 74-59 win over Hartford in the semifinals. After falling behind in the first half, Northeastern outscored Hartford by 19 points in the second stanza. Forward Ron Lacey led the team with 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Steve Carney and Marcellus Anderson had 15 and 13 rebounds, respectively, to give the Huskies a 46-29 rebounding edge in the contest.
 
The championship game against second-seeded Maine proved to be a tougher matchup. The Black Bears were up 22-16 with 6:38 left in the first half, but Lacey led a 16-point rally, and the Huskies went into the locker room ahead by eight at the half. Maine would go on a 12-5 run in the closing minutes of the game, but Northeastern held off the late-game comeback and captured a 57-46 victory. Lacey's 18 points and five steals earned him NAC Tournament MVP honors, while Carney had another outstanding rebounding performance with 16 boards. Captain Dexter Jenkins chipped in 17 points to help secure the title against the Black Bears.
 
The Huskies headed into the NCAA Tournament with momentum, riding a seven-game win streak. ACC powerhouse UNC was coming off wins over Clemson, Virginia and Duke in the conference tournament. The Tar Heels were led by coaching legend Dean Smith and senior forward Rick Fox, who would go on to play in the NBA for nearly 15 years. UNC proved to be too much for Northeastern in the opening round at the Carrier Dome, beating the Huskies by 35 despite 22 points and nine rebounds from Carney. Lacey added 12 points, and George Robinson set an NCAA Tournament single-game record for the Huskies with eight assists. The Tar Heels would make it to the Final Four that year, where they fell to Kansas by six.
 
Two members of the 1991 tournament team would go on to be inducted into the Northeastern Hall of Fame. All-NAC first team selection Carney was inducted in 2003, and star rebounder Dan Callahan was honored in 2001. Carney is in the top-10 all-time in rebounds (871), blocks (96) and field goal percentage (53.6) at Northeastern.
 
Fogel coached the Huskies for three more seasons and completed his Northeastern coaching career with an overall record of 131-103.
 
Northeastern will begin its quest to return to the NCAA Tournament this weekend when the team travels to Baltimore for the CAA Men's Basketball Championship. The No. 3 seed Huskies will face No. 6 Delaware in the quarterfinals Saturday at 8:30 p.m.