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WILIMINGTON, N.C. – UNCW registered nine-straight points, including three free throws by Ty Taylor with .4 seconds on the clock in the second half, to tie the game at 68-all and force overtime, but the Northeastern men's basketball team rallied off 11 points in succession in the extra period to come away with an 81-77 victory in their first overtime game of the season.
 
UNCW led just once in regulation after recording the first basket of the day, and then did not gain a lead again until OT where they earned their largest lead of the night, 74-70.
 
The Huskies answered right back with their longest run of the game thanks to a 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line, a layup by Shawn Occeus and a clutch three from Bolden Brace to seal the victory with 14 seconds to go.
 
The Seahawks were without point guard Jordon Talley in the extra stanza as he fouled out of the ballgame with 2:12 left in the second half after netting 17 points, four assists and five rebounds on the day. Jaylen Fornes led all scorers with 24 points while pulling down eight rebounds while Devontae Cacok was held to 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds.
 
Northeastern was led by a career-effort from Tomas Murphy who finished with 17 points, including the first four for Northeastern of the overtime period, as he went 6-for-8 from the field on the night and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
Three other Huskies finished with double-digit efforts including Shawn Occeus' 15 points, three assists and three rebounds, Vasa Pusica's 12 points, five assists and six boards, and Maxime Boursiquot's 11 points and three boards. Bolden Brace added nine points, including a clutch 3-pointer in OT to seal the win while Devon Begley hauled in a career-high nine rebounds while adding seven points, two assists and two steals on the night.
 
FIRST HALF
Fornes netted the first five points of the game for UNCW while the Huskies defense spurred an offensive onslaught early.
 
After UNCW recorded the first basket of the game more than two minutes in, Boursiquot answered with a layup, and-one, and completed the three point play. On the following possession, Occeus came away with his first steal of the day and finished with the fastbreak layup. Following a Boursiquot jumper and a Pusica three, the Huskies had a 10-5 lead at the first media timeout.
 
UNCW evened things up at 10-all, and after alternating baskets, the Huskies went on an 11-4 run highlighted by three baskets from Murphy and a trey from Brace.
 
Begley hit a three from the corner to give the Huskies their largest lead of the half as Northeastern got out to a 26-16 advantage. Down the stretch, Jordon Talley notched back-to-back buckets and following a Fornes layup, Bill Coen called a timeout to quiet the Trask crowd with nine seconds to go.
 
Out of the timeout, Murphy netted his fourth bucket of the half with the shot clock winding down as the Huskies headed to the locker room with a 33-28 advantage.  
 
SECOND HALF
Coming out of the half, UNCW was able to cut the Husky lead to 37-35 before back-to-back treys from Pusica and Brace gave the Huskies an eight-point cushion.
 
Coming out of the following media timeout, Pusica then went inside to Miller but he had the ball stripped away and with three seconds on the clock kicked out a pass to Donnell Gresham who hit a clutch three from NBA range to give the Huskies a 50-43 lead with just over 11 minutes to go.
 
The Seahawks made five of six shots and went on a 6-0 run to cut the Husky lead to just one point, 53-52 before Northeastern responded with a 7-9 run of its own jumpstarted by an Occeus three-point play and some Pusica free throws.  
 
Northeastern looked like it was going to come away with the win in regulation, but UNCW finished out the second half on a 9-0 run that was started by a Cacok three-point play and ended with Taylor getting fouled while throwing up a prayer as time ran out in the second half. He hit all three free throws, despite an attempt by the Huskies to ice him heading into the final attempt to force the overtime period. The three free throws were the first three points of the game from Taylor.
 
OVERTIME
The Huskies headed into their first overtime game of the season with all of the momentum in favor of UNCW and the crowd on the Seahawks' side.
 
After Cacok started with a jumper, Murphy answered on the other end. The UNCW went off for their largest lead of the game behind back-to-back buckets by Taylor and Bryan.
 
The Huskies were unfazed and Murphy started the eventual 11-0 run with two perfect free throws, followed by an Occeus layup, two Occeus free throws, and a clutch three from Brace to bolster Northeastern's lead to five with just 14 seconds remaining.
 
After a UNCW miss, the Seahawks started fouling and Pusica, who entered OT with a 2-of-6 effort from the charity stripe, sank both shots as the Huskies went ahead by seven and the fans headed for the exits.
 
Fornes reeled off an inconsequential three as time expired and the Huskies came away with the win.
 
UP NEXT
The Huskies return to the road for one more contest on Thursday night at William & Mary before heading back to the comfortable confines of Matthews Arena for Coaches vs. Cancer Day on Saturday afternoon against Delaware.