NU’s Pusica beats buzzer, William & Mary
As Vasa Pusica sat out last season after transferring into Northeastern University, men’s basketball coach Bill Coen already saw the potential of his future point guard. He matched T.J. Williams, the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, in scrimmages and drills, and his coach often viewed him as the best player in practice.
It came as no surprise to Coen that Pusica’s transition back to the court was seamless, and Northeastern has reaped the benefits of its go-to point guard all season long. Yesterday was the latest example.
Pusica scored 19 points, including the game-winning layup as time expired, as the Huskies grinded out a 69-67 win over William & Mary at Matthews Arena. It was the fifth straight win for NU (19-9, 12-4).
“He makes us go,” Coen said of Pusica. “He scores for us, he assists at a high level, makes the game easy for his teammates. When you got a guy like that, it just makes everything easy.”
After Nathan Knight tied the game for the Tribe (16-11, 9-7) at 67 with 1:03 to go, both teams misfired on 3-pointers before the dramatic finish. When the Tribe’s Matt Milon missed on a great look from deep, Donnell Gresham corralled the rebound and the Huskies called timeout with 5.3 seconds to go.
Coen’s designed play worked to perfection. Pusica received the inbounds pass in the backcourt and sized up his defender, then crossed the ball over to his right as he moved into the frontcourt and past his defender, and raced toward the basket with a lane to the hoop. The Tribe’s help-side defense came late, and Pusica banked in the layup at the buzzer.
Since William & Mary was in the bonus, Coen’s plan was to attack the hoop, and there was enough diversion at the free throw line that created space for Pusica to drive.
“I wanted to get to the rim,” Pusica said. “I had a good defender on me, but I went by him. Coach drew a great play and the lane was wide open.”
Harvard 64, Yale 49 — Chris Lewis had a double-double and Christian Juzang scored 13 points with eight assists to help the Crimson (14-11, 9-1) beat the Bulldogs (12-14, 5-5) in a clash of Ivy League rivals in Lavietes Pavilion.
Lewis shot 9-of-14 from the field and finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high tying four blocks.
Navy 62, Boston University 48 — Mo Lewis had 12 points and eight rebounds and the Midshipmen (1910, 10-6 Patriot League) beat the Terriers (12-15, 8-8) at Case Gym.
Bucknell 68, Holy Cross 67 — Nana Foulland had 21 points as the Bison (20-9, 14-2 PL) held off the Crusaders (10-17, 7-9) during overtime in Worcester.
Fairfield 102, Quinnipiac 98 — Tyler Nelson of Bradford drained six 3-pointers on his way to 32 points, becoming the school’s alltime scoring leader along the way at 2,032 points, and the Stags (1215, 7-9 MAAC) beat the Bobcats (10-18, 7-9) in double overtime in Bridgeport, Conn.
Davidson 83, UMass 78 — Peyton Aldridge had 38 points and 14 rebounds as the Wildcats (15-10, 10-4 Atlantic 10) held off the Minutemen (11-16, 4-10) in Davidson, N.C. Luwane Pipkins led UMass with 31 points.
Butler 69, Providence 54 — Kelan Martin had three 3-pointers and 19 points as the Bulldogs (18-10, 8-7 Big East) topped the Friars (17-10, 8-6) in Indianapolis.
Men’s hockey
Northeastern 4, Vermont 1 — Adam Gaudette had two goals and an assist to help the No.12 Huskies (19-8-5, 13-6-3) to a Hockey East win over the Catamounts (9-17-6, 6-11-5) in Burlington, Vt.
Providence 3, UMass-Lowell 1 — Erik Foley notched the winner as the No.8 Friars (20-9-4, 13-6-4 HE) beat the River Hawks (16-160, 10-12-0) in Lowell.
Boston College 5, Maine 0 — Joseph Woll kicked out 33 shots as the No. 19 Eagles (15-13-3, 15-6-0 HE) blanked the Black Bears (1611-4, 10-8-3) in Orono, Maine.
Boston University 3, Merrimack 1 — Gabriel Chabot scored for the No.20 Terriers (16-13-4, 11-83 HE) in a win over the Warriors (9-18-4, 6-14-2) in North Andover.
Women’s basketball
UMass 70, Davidson 68 — Maggie Mulligan of Boston had 16 points with 12 rebounds as the Minutewomen (12-15, 4-10 Atlantic 10) beat the Wildcats (10-17, 5-9) in Amherst.
Women’s hockey
Boston College 3, Maine 1 — Caitrin Lonergan scored her 29th goal of the season as the third-ranked Eagles (28-3-3, 19-2-3 Hockey East) beat the Black Bears (17-12-5, 11-9-4) in Orono, Maine.