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BOSTON – The Northeastern men's basketball team fought right down to the final seconds, but The College of Charleston was able to hold the Huskies off for the 69-64 victory at Matthews Arena.
 
With the win, Charleston (17-6, 8-3 CAA) maintains control of first place in the conference, tied with William & Mary, who defeated Elon at home, while the Huskies fall to a tie for third with Hofstra as the two teams each have maintained a 14-9 record and a 7-4 effort in conference.
 
Despite a seven-point lead by Charleston midway through the second half, the Huskies ralled to even the score at 58-all with just under four minutes to go. But a Grant Riller three-point play put things just out of reach for the Huskies, though a Bolden Brace three made things interesting with less than a minute to play.
 
Riller finished with 13 points on the night while Joe Chealey led both teams with 23 points, in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Jarrell Brantley added 13 points but was held to just two rebounds, while Cameron Johnson finished with 11 points in the game.
 
The Huskies were led by Donnell Gresham, who had 18 points on the night, 13 in the second half, while Vasa Pusica added 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds. A trio of Huskies finished with eight points, including Brace (who also added seven rebounds), Shawn Occeus, and Anthony Green.
 
In the first half, Charleston held the Huskies without a basket for over four minutes and used a 6-0 run to take a 23-14 lead. Tomas Murphy ended that run with a dunk and Northeastern rallied off nine-straight points, while holding Charleston without a basket for nearly six minutes to even the score at 23-all. The Cougars would head into halftime
 
In the second half, the Huskies held Charleston field goal-less for a three-minute stretch and earned their largest lead of the game, 39-35, finishing the stretch with a Donnell Gresham three-point play.
 
Charleston used an 8-0 run over 2:14 to take a 43-39 lead, and after a Gresham trey and Occeus layup to help the Huskies regain the lead, Charleston raced out on yet another run, this time a 9-0 stretch to build up a 52-44 lead.
 
Huskies made it a three-point game on a Bolden Brace trey from the corner and after Anthony Green slammed one down to hype up the Matthews crowd, the Huskies got back-to-back stops, Gresham drilled his third three of the half and Brace got a pair of free throws to fall to even the score at 58-all.
 
After Charleston got out to a five-point advantage, Brace hit his late trey, but it just wasn't enough as the Cougars hung on for the win.
 
UP NEXT
The Huskies are back at home on Saturday afternoon on Community Day at Matthews Arena when they take on UNCW at 4 p.m.
 
All first responders, with valid ID, are welcome to four free tickets at the door.