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Coen Postgame
WILLIAMSBURG, Va.– A total team effort for the Northeastern men's basketball team, led by a 21-point game from
Shawn Occeus, resulted in a 20-point victory over William & Mary Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
For the second-straight season, the Huskies entered Williamsburg, and came away with a 90-70 win. Last year the Huskies shot a 2018-19 NCAA best 71.4 percent from the field, this year they combined for 60 percent shooting while aiding on 19 of the 33 baskets on the day.
Occeus's 21 points were coupled with a career-best eight assists, while he also added four rebounds and two steals. Occeus was 5-of-8 from deep, his five treys matching his career high.
Jordan Roland chipped in 15 points and three steals while
Vasa Pusica added 13 points and
Tomas Murphy finished with 10 points in the outing.
The Huskies' defense forced 16 William & Mary turnovers, while Nathan Knight finished with 22 points and Justin Pierce added 15.
FIRST HALF
The Huskies came out firing on the offensive end and forced a pair of William & Mary turnovers on defense within the first two minutes, forcing Tony Shaver to call a timeout with 17:57 remaining and the Huskies up 7-2, following and Occeus trey.
Following the timeout, the Tribe went on a 10-2 run to gain a 12-9 advantage. And after some back and forth play, and William & Mary out to a 22-20 lead,
Jeremy Miller put together a 7-0 run with a runner in the paint, a trey and a layup, to give the Huskies a 27-22 advantage.
Down the stretch, Northeastern made six of its last eight shots. Started by the Miller layup and continued three-straight free throws by Roland from the charity stripe followed by a trey, the Huskies built up their lead to six heading into the half, 40-34.
SECOND HALF
The Huskies turned up the heat in the second half and continued to build upon their lead. After four-consecutive makes, Roland popped up and poked a pass away slamming it down on the other end with emphasis as the Huskies took their then-largest lead of the day, 68-48 with 10:09 remaining.
Occeus turned on the steam down the stretch, finding his groove and connecting on 16 of his 21 total points in the second half thanks to 4-of-5 shooting from deep. The total marked his season best and was his fourth career 20-point effort.
William & Mary cut into the lead towards the end of the period with a 9-0 run over an 88 second stretch to make it an 83-64 game before the Huskies ended that run with a pair of Pusica free throws en route to the 90-70 victory.
NEXT UP
Northeastern will return home to Matthews Arena next week where they will square off against the College of Charleston and UNCW beginning on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available
HERE.
