Box Score | Infographic | Coen Postgame

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Shooting a blistering 71.4 percent from the field, tying the best shooting effort in the nation this season, the Northeastern men's basketball team rolled William & Mary 90-70 for their second ever victory at Kaplan Arena on Thursday night.
 
The Huskies (12-7, 5-2 CAA) dominated the game from start to finish, and claimed a share of first place in the CAA with the win.
 
Vasa Pusica led all scorers with 20 points, 18 of which helped the Huskies to a 13-point first half lead. Pusica fell just one assist shy of double-digits, for the second time this season, tying his career-high with nine assists on the day.
 
Bolden Brace finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, while his 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc came in the timeliest of situations. Shawn Occeus, once again, filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and four steals, marking his eighth 3+ steal effort of the season. Also tallying double digits was Anthony Green who finished with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while making two blocks.
 
Every player seeing significant time in the game recorded at least four points while eight players had at least seven points on the night.
 
William & Mary (12-6, 5-2) was led by Nathan Knight who finished with 15 points and six of the Tribe's 22 rebounds. Justin Pierce added 14 while Matt Milon had 13 and Conor Burchfield recorded 11.
 
David Cohn, who entered the game averaging 14.0 ppg while shooting .554 from the field was held to six points on 2-of-7 shooting.
 
FIRST HALF
Green tallied a couple of baskets while Donnell Gresham added a trey en route to a 10-7 advantage at the under-16 media. The Tribe, who consistently drove to the basket in the first four minutes of action, also consistently had their shots altered or swatted away.
 
The Huskies made their first four shots of the game before a Pusica miss (that was followed up by an Occeus steal that set up Tomas Murphy for a layup). During that same stretch, William & Mary was 4-of-10 from the field.
 
After a pair of free throws made it a two-point game, with the Huskies leading 15-13, Northeastern went off from deep. Notching five-straight 3-pointers, led by back-to-back treys from Brace, the Huskies embarked on a 14-3 run over a 4:21 span while making 7-of-8 shots, the lone miss being a layup that was put right back for the score, during that span while the Tribe committed four turnovers, as the team took a 31-16 lead.
 
The Huskies got out to as much as a 19-point lead with just over six minutes remaining in the half before the Tribe's buckets began to fall. Burchfield scored the final six points of the half for either team via three free throws and a trey to make it a 13-point game, 47-34, at the half.
 
The Huskies finished the first half shooting a remarkable 69.2 from the field, including a 66.7 mark from behind the arc, while William & Mary, ranked eighth in the country with a 51.0 field goal percentage as a team entering the game, were held to 44.4 shooting.  
 
SECOND HALF
The Huskies hot shooting continued into the second half as they went on an early 10-0 run making five-straight baskets to get out to their then-largest lead of the game, 61-39 with 15:38 left in the second half.  
 
That run extended to a 15-1 run with the Huskies earning a 66-40 advantage before William & Mary responded with a 10-2 run of its own to cut the deficit to 16-points midway through the stanza, but they would be unable to get any closer.
 
The Huskies outdid first-half, 69.2 percent effort from the first half, with a 73.9 percent one in the second finishing the game shooting an outstanding 71.4 percent from the field, tying the top mark in the country for single game field goal percentage this season (Loyola Chicago, 71.4, 25-of-35)
 
UP NEXT
The Huskies are finally headed home on Saturday, January 20 as they take on Delaware on their annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers game at 2 p.m. at Matthews Arena.
 
PROMOTIONS
Jamn 94.5 will be in the building on Saturday afternoon and fans should stop by their booth in the main lobby to enter to win a spot in the halftime competition.
 
In addition, we will be giving away five pairs of Nike sneakers, of your choosing, at the game so make sure you stop by a marketing table and enter to win.
 
In keeping with the Suits and Sneakers theme, an additional best dressed student fan, in suit and sneakers will be selected to win a pair of Nike sneakers.