SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Trailing by 15 midway through the second half, the Northeastern men's basketball team (4-6) brought the deficit all the way down to five with less than two minutes to play, but Syracuse (8-4) would hit its free throws down the stretch to hang on against the Huskies on Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome, 91-83.
 
Ryan Williams had a team-high 20 points on 8-of-10 from the field in his first start of the season to lead three Huskies in double figures. He was joined by Zander Alarie, who recorded his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Youri Fritz added 17 points and seven boards. Mike Loughnane chipped in nine points and a game-high seven assists for a Northeastern squad that finished the day 31-of-65 overall and 8-of-23 from deep.
 
The Orange, meanwhile put five players in double figures led by a game-high 22 from Naithan George while Kiyan Anthony added 18 off the bench as Syracuse shot 51% overall and 34-of-78 from the line.
 
Northeastern hung tough in the first half, shooting 47% as a team and leading by as many as five before weathering a storm midway through the half, and bringing it within 10 at the break, 41-31.
 
An 8-2 Huskies run over 2:34 early in the game, capped by a fast break slam from Xavier Abreu gave the visitors a 14-9 lead, prompting an early Syracuse timeout. The Orange would respond from there, going on a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 25-16, with 7:34 until recess.
 
Syracuse went on an 8-2 run to take its largest lead of the half, 39-27, before Loughnane scored the Huskies' final five points to make it a 10-point game at the half.
 
Northeastern had no quit during the second half, turning deficits of 12 down to seven, 15 down to seven and 14 down to five throughout the second half to give the Huskies a chance late.
 
NU shot 49% over the final 20 minutes, with William (16) and Alarie (14) combining for 30 of the Huskies' 52 second half points, tied for the most in any half this season.
 
After a jumper from Fritz brought the Huskies within five with 2:03 to go, the Orange didn't attempt another field goal the rest of the way, instead going 11-of-12 at the line to put the game out of reach.
 
The Huskies will close non-conference play on Monday night when Northeastern travels to Rhode Island for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Ryan Center on ESPN+.