CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - DEC. 1
Providence 76, Northeastern 72
Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. - Northeastern, down 13 points with less than five minutes to play, staged a furious rally to get within one possession of Providence, but the Friars escaped with a 76-72 victory over the Huskies Tuesday in front of 2,622 fans at Matthews Arena. Matt Janning led the Huskies with 18 points, and Nkem Ojougboh posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Providence shot an impressive 56.4 percent from the field to come away with the victory.
"Both teams played extremely hard," said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen. "The difference in the game was that Providence really made some big plays when they needed to, whether it was make shots at the end of shot clocks or at the end of the half or grabbing the critical rebound at just the right time. So they stepped up and made plays. Unfortunately tonight we didn't."
Providence took an early 6-4 lead before Manny Adako would help the Huskies go on a 6-0 run to take a 10-6 lead connecting on six of his 10 first half points. Providence's Marshon Brooks hit a three at 14:05 to spark an 11-0 run for the Friars to take a 17-10 lead.
A jumper from Adako with the score at 18-12 would cut the lead to four points at 11:20, but it was the closest Northeastern would get in the first half as Providence, paced by Brooks' 13 first half points on 5-of-7 shooting and a perfect 3-for-3 beyond the arc, stretched the Friars lead to as much as 13.
The Friars held Northeastern without a field goal for 6:14 until Matt Janning layed in a bucket with 11 seconds remaining to cut the lead to single digits. Providence immediately responded when Sharaud Curry hit a three with four ticks on the clock to give the Friars a 40-29 lead at the half.
PC shot 51.5 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three in the first while holding the Huskies to 39.3. Janning had 10 points in the first half for the Huskies while Nkem Ojougboh added four points and seven rebounds.
Chaisson Allen's jumper 1:56 into the second half brought the Huskies to within nine at 44-35. The teams traded baskets until two steals from Allen and Janning led to consecutive baskets to cut the lead to seven, prompting Providence to take a timeout.
With Providence leading 52-43, Alwayne Bigby hit a three for Northeastern at 13:11 cut lead to six points. Brooks once again killed momentum hitting a three 41 seconds later to give the Friars another nine-point edge. Providence would keep Northeastern within nine and would take a 13 point lead off a Bilal Dixon jumper with 6:49 remaining.
The Huskies swung the momentum their way when Baptiste Bataille hit a three-pointer, sparking a 9-0 run as Allen poured in two baskets in 36 second to put Northeastern down four. With 50 seconds remaining, Ojougboh knocked down two free throws to cut the margin to two points.
The Huskies defense held the Friars off the rim until a deadball rebound with 15.5 seconds on the game clock and one second on the shot clock. Off the inbounds play, Jamine Peterson hit a floater in the lane to give Providence a four-point advantage. Northeastern missed a lay up with nine seconds remaining as the Friars hung on to win the game.
Adako ended with 14 points while Allen added 13 for Northeastern.
Curry led all scorers with 19 points, shooting 70 percent from the floor. Peterson added 18 for the Friars while Dixon and Vincent Council had 11 and Marshon Brooks added 10.
The Huskies open conference play Saturday at Drexel at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet New England.
Delaware State 75, Delaware 67
Box Score
DOVER, Del. -- The University of Delaware could not overcome the inspired play of Francisco Sandidge and a decisive disadvantage at the foul line and dropped a 75-67 men's basketball decision to host Delaware State Tuesday evening at Memorial Gym.
Sandidge, a senior forward, dropped in a career-high 26 points and drained 12 of Delaware State's 30 free throws as the Hornets (4-1) won their second straight game and picked up the victory in a battle of the state's lone NCAA Division I programs dubbed the Route 1 Rivalry.
Delaware (1-5), which lost its third straight game, had won the previous eight games in the series with the Hornets since Delaware State won the inaugural matchup back in 1991-92. The two teams were meeting for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign.
Delaware freshman forward Jamelle Hagins had a big effort for the Hens as he scored 18 points, including four dunks, and pulled down 13 rebounds to record the first double-double by a UD freshman since Herb Courtney had 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 93-82 Delaware overtime win over William & Mary back on Jan. 21, 2004.
Junior guard Jawan Carter was the only other Blue Hen in double figures with 12 points to go with eight assists but Delaware could not overcome 20 turnovers and Delaware's State's 30-6 advantage from the foul line. Freshman guard Malcolm Hawkins added nine points as UD freshman scored 32 of the Hens' 67 points.
The Blue Hens shot a sizzling 57.4 percent from the field for the game (27 of 47), including 72 percent in the second half (18 of 25), and also drained seven three-pointers, but could not overcome the 24-point disadvantage at the foul line where the Hens converted just 6 of 13 shots.
"You can't win on the road when you turn the ball over 20 times and shoot 46 percent from the foul line, and that's what we did tonight," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross, who coached his 100th career game at Delaware. "Once we got the ball in the frontcourt we got some easy shots, but we turned the ball over in some key spots. Our young guys played their hearts out, and they are going to be up and down because they are so young."
Delaware built a slim two-point lead at halftime and went ahead 31-28 on a Hagins layup just under six minutes into the second half. After five straight points by Delaware State, including a three-pointer by Marcus Neal (16 points), Hagins added a free throw and Alphonso Dawson converted a layup and was fouled with 11:55 left to knot the score at 34-34. Dawson missed the free throw and the Hens never had a share of the lead again.
Guard Alibaba Odd, who finished the night with 16 points, put the Hornets up for good moments later with a three-pointer from the right corner with 11:25 left. Sandidge then went to work for the Hornets, scoring each of the Delaware's State's next 11 points, including seven from the foul line. When he was done, DSU had built the lead to 48-42 with 6:40 remaining.
Delaware pulled to within three points twice the rest of the way, on a Carter drive with five minutes left and on a Dawson follow at the 4:05 mark, but could never get closer. Neal followed with a three-pointer and the Hornets stayed in front by converting 20 of 24 shots from the foul line over the final three minutes of play.
Delaware State finished the night hitting 30 of 40 free throws, including 28 of 37 (.757) in the second half. The Blue Hens held a 29-20 advantage on the boards, but Delaware State committed just nine turnovers for the game.
The Blue Hens earned their first halftime of the lead of the season as they gained a 25-23 advantage, but it wasn't easy.
In a sluggish first half by both teams, Delaware State used a 10-3 run to gain its biggest lead of the stanza at 19-12 with 6:49 left. Delaware had taken its first lead of the game at 11-9 on jumper by Hagins, but the Hornets rallied behind Sandidge. The senior forward hit two quick baskets to give DSU a 13-11 lead and later stole the ball and raced fullcourt for a layup to up the margin to 19-12.
After a three-pointer by Delaware's Carter snapped a 6-0 Delaware State run and ended a six-minute field goal drought by the Hens, Sandidge hit a turnaround in the lane at the 5:00 mark to give the Hornets a 21-15 advantage.
But the Hens, who were able to overcome 11 first-half turnovers, would take control from there with a 10-2 run to end the half and go up 25-23. Dawson and Hawkins hit consecutive three-pointers in a span of 49 seconds and Hagins finished off a dunk at the 1:50 mark for a 23-21 Delaware lead. Delaware State's Greg Smith hit a jumper to tie things at 23-23 with 1:15 left, but the Hens grabbed the upperhand on a Hagins tip-in with 47 seconds left.
The Delaware lead could have been more but DSU's Neal blocked an open layup by Hakim McCullar just before the horn.
Delaware will return to action this Saturday when the Hens open Colonial Athletic Association play on the road at pre-season CAA favorite Old Dominion at 7 p.m. in Norfolk, Va.