Huskies’ late comeback falls just short
With conference leader UNC-Wilmington in its building, Northeastern couldn’t afford to have a slow start last night. The Seahawks squad that made the NCAA tournament last season was hard enough to match, let alone catch up to.
The Huskies have shown a resiliency to come back from big deficits, but against the CAA’s best, they couldn’t finish the deal.
T.J. Williams scored 27 of his career-high 33 points in the second half as Northeastern made a furious late rally after a disastrous first half, but the Huskies couldn’t complete the comeback in a 66-65 loss at Matthews Arena.
“This group always finds a way to keep digging, keep believing in each other and keep fighting,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said.
For a moment, it looked like that fight would result in an improbable win. The Huskies (14-13, 7-8) trailed by as many as 21, but made it a one-point game in the final minute.
But a week after a win against Charleston in which they stormed back from 16 down and willed their way to a game-winning buzzer-beater, the Huskies couldn’t find that magical play. Trailing by one with time winding down, Williams turned it over with 11 seconds left, and Denzel Ingram made four free throws to seal it for the Seahawks (23-5, 12-3).
“I thought I had (Bolden Brace) in the corner,” Williams said. “Going back now I probably would have done something different, but you learn from your mistakes and move on.”
Despite that play, Northeastern wouldn’t have had a chance if it wasn’t for Williams. Led by their senior point guard, the Huskies — who trailed 39-19 at halftime — used a 16-1 run early in the second half to get back in the game.
Northeastern trailed 62-55 with less than three minutes to play, but Williams led the Huskies’ final charge. He made a reverse layup, then found Anthony Green for a dunk to make it a three-point game with 1:44 left. Then, he drove hard to the hoop, got fouled and made a pair of free throws to make it a 62-61 game with 52 seconds left.
“I never say I’m just going to put it on myself, but I just stayed within myself, believed in my teammates and I knew going out the second half that we were going to have to be more aggressive than we were in the first half,” Williams said. “I just felt like we did a better job as a team coming out and playing more aggressive.”
After giving up 20 firsthalf points to Chris Flemmings, Northeastern was stronger defensively in the second half. Flemmings scored one point the rest of the way as the Huskies contested open looks and didn’t allow the Seahawks to get into a rhythm.
But Northeastern still couldn’t finish off some defensive possessions, and it proved costly. UNCW finished with 19 offensive rebounds and 20 secondchance points, which allowed the Seahawks to hold off the Huskies in the final minutes.
Northeastern has lost eight of its last 10 games, but Williams said last night’s effort against the conference’s top dog can give the Huskies confidence as the CAA tournament approaches.
“We’ve been here before,” Williams said. “We know what it takes to win. We just have to put it together and get a ‘W.’ ”