Box Score | Season Stats |
Highlights |
Press Conference |
Infographic |
Buy Championship GearBALTIMORE – Led by a 22-point performance from the CAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player,
Quincy Ford, the Northeastern men's basketball team (23-11) claimed its first NCAA tournament bid since 1991 with a 72-61 win over No. 1 William & Mary (20-12) on Monday before a crowd of 5,721 at Royal Farms Arena.
The victory gives Northeastern its first-ever CAA tournament title and its eighth ticket to the Big Dance in program history. The Huskies will learn their first round opponent on Sunday, March 15 during the NCAA selection show on CBS.
The Huskies never trailed in the game and shot 59.1 percent (26-44), including 60 percent (12-for-20) from beyond the arc. Ford made eight of his 10 field goal attempts, including four from 3-point territory, to set a new season-high with 22 points.
Ford was joined in double-figure scoring by junior
David Walker (15 points), junior
Caleb Donnelly (13 points) and senior
Scott Eatherton (12 points). Donnelly's 13 points tied a career high, while his four 3-pointers set a new career best.
Junior
Zach Stahl, the Huskies' Mr. Do-It-All, added five points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
Walker and Eatherton joined Ford on the CAA All-Tournament Team, which was announced after the game.
The Huskies held William & Mary to 38.3 percent shooting, and out-rebounded the Tribe by a 31-28 margin.
The CAA's Player of the Year, Marcus Thornton scored 20 points to lead William & Mary, which suffered its second straight setback in the CAA final.
Northeastern started fast, racing out to a 10-0 lead in the opening minutes after a pair of 3-pointers from Ford.
William & Mary battled back to pull even with a 15-5 run to tie the score, and the contest stayed close until the 8:42 mark, when NU made a run to take control of the game.
A layup by Eatherton ignited a 9-0 run, which was capped by another triple from Ford, to make it 29-20 Huskies with less than four minutes left in the half.
Donnelly then stepped up and knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to push the advantage to 36-26 at halftime.
Ford picked up where he left off after the break, nailing another trey to expand the cushion to 13 in the opening moments of the second stanza.
The lead eventually ballooned to as many as 22 at 62-40 following an 18-4 run that included a pair of three's from Donnelly and an exclamation-point, two-handed jam from Walker on a breakaway with six minutes remaining.
William & Mary did not go quietly as the Tribe used a 16-0 run to cut the deficit to 67-61 after a triple by Thornton with 36 seconds left.
The Tribe would get no closer, however, as Northeastern made enough free throws in the final half-minute to send the Husky fans into a frenzy on the court at Royal Farms Arena.
Game Notes• Northeastern won its first-ever CAA tournament championship
• The Huskies punched their eighth ticket to the Big Dance, and first since 1991.
• Ford (MVP), Eatherton and Walker were named to the CAA All-Tournament Team.
• Northeastern defeated a No. 1 seed in the CAA tournament for the first time (1-2).
• Eatherton scored his 1,000th point as a Husky in the second half; Eatherton has 1,518 career points including 515 at St. Francis (Pa.).
• Donnelly tied a career-high with 13 points and set a new career-high with four 3-pointers.
• NU knocked down a season-high 12 3-pointers.
• The Huskies improved to 15-0 when shooting 50 percent or better.
• NU improved to 13-0 when scoring 70 points or more this season.
• Walker scored in double-figures for the 11th straight game.
• Ford scored a season-high 22 points.
For complete coverage of Northeastern men's basketball, follow us on Facebook (GoNUmbasketball) and Twitter (@GoNUmbasketball). Check out exclusive live and on-demand videos at GoNU.com/xstream and behind-the-scenes content on Instagram (GoNUathletics). For tickets, visit GoNU.com/tickets or call (617) 373-4700. .
