CHARLESTON, S.C. – It came down to the final shot, but Northeastern (10-9, 2-4 CAA) was unable to take down the College of Charleston (15-4, 5-1 CAA), falling at the final buzzer by a score of 87-85 at TD Arena on Saturday evening.
 
Northeastern once again posted a strong field goal percentage, with a 51.4% shooting mark and 44.4% from behind the arc, but the hometown Cougars were able to withstand the Northeastern offensive onslaught, as the Huskies totaled their most points in a game this season. Northeastern got huge nights from Rashad King with a team-high 22 points, seven assists, and two steals, and Harold Woods who notched his first 20-point game since November, with 20 and nine rebounds, with three assists.
 
NU also got a key performance out of Collin Metcalf, who battled all night with the Charleston bigs to record his first double-double of the year with a season-high 10 points and a career-high 12 boards. JB Frankel (12 points, 4 3FGs, 2 assists) and Youri Fritz (career-high 13 points, 6 FGs) also made big plays for the Huskies throughout the contest.
 
Northeastern shot a dazzling 54% from the field in the opening half and hung with the Cougars' pace, never allowing a double-digit lead by the home squad. After the two teams traded baskets in the early going, with six lead changes and six ties in the opening 7 minutes of the contest. Northeastern had its early 17-12 lead erased by a 6-0 Charleston run, giving the Cougars the lead for the rest of the half. NU cut the deficit down to just two points at half time thanks to the tandem of Harold Woods and Youri Fritz, tallying 14 and 11 points respectively.
 
The Huskies ended the first half on a 12-6 run with big three's from JB Frankel and Harold Woods, and a pair of layups from Youri Fritz. Woods led all Huskies in points and rebounds at the half, while Fritz was 5-for-5 from the floor. Only two total foul shots were taken in the opening half – Charleston was 0-for-1 at the charity stripe, while Fritz went 1-for-1.
 
The second half started with a big swing for the Huskies, led by Rashad King who made three straight buckets to pull ahead 50-47. After threes from King and Masai Troutman, the Huskies had their biggest lead of the second half, 58-51 with 12:57 to go. The Cougars got a huge 11-0 run in the span of nearly three minutes to tie the game at 67-67, and eventually to take the lead 72-67.
 
Late in the contest, it was a run of buckets from Woods, King, and a dunk from Collin Metcalf that answered Charleston's missed free throws to whittle the lead down to 84-80, and eventually 86-85 thanks to a massive three-pointer from JB Frankel with 11 seconds left after a missed layup on the other end by the Cougars. With Charleston going 1-for-2 at the line, the Huskies had a chance to take the lead or tie on the final possession but were unable to find a clean look.
 
Northeastern's 85 points were the most given up by the defending champs in a CAA game this season. The Cougars snagged the victory despite only shooting 14-for-21 at the free throw line, while Northeastern only took five FT attempts, making just three.
 
Northeastern returns home for its first game at Matthews Arena since January 4^th, hosting a pair of home contests in CAA week four, the first of which is Thursday, January 23^rd at 7 p.m. vs. Drexel. That game can be streamed on FloCollege.