Northeastern falls just short at ‘Cuse

Joseph Girard III scored 21 points, Quincy Guerrier had 18 points and a careerhigh 16 rebounds, and Syracuse held off shorthanded Northeastern 62-56 on Wednesday.

Girard’s steal and fastbreak layup, followed by a free throw, gave Syracuse a 60-53 lead with 1:49 remaining. Neither team made another field goal the rest of the way, and Kadary Richmond capped it by hitting two free throws with 20 seconds left.

Buddy Boeheim and Alan Griffin, Syracuse’s top two scoring leaders coming in, were held to a combined two points. Boeheim was 1-of-12 shooting as Syracuse shot just 31.7% from the field, including 2 of 18 from 3-point range. Boeheim entered averaging 19 points per game and Griffin 18.4.

Boeheim’s basket gave Syracuse a 2-0 lead.

Marek Dolezaj added 14 points for Syracuse (5-1), which set a program record last week with 16 3-pointers in a victory over Boston College.

Northeastern (1-2) was without starting point guard Tyson Walker for most of the second half. He was helped off the court after appearing to hit his head on the court and did not return. He’s averaging a team-high 24.5 points per game, and scored seven against the Orange.

Freshman Jahmyl Telfort led Northeastern with a season-high 16 points.

UMass 85, La Salle 66 — Tre Mitchell had a career-high 37 points as UMass beat La Salle in an Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both teams.

Mitchell made 13 of 17 shots.

Carl Pierre had 14 points for UMass (2-1). Noah Fernandes added 11 points, nine assists and five steals. Cairo McCrory had nine rebounds.

David Beatty had 17 points for the Explorers. Christian Ray added eight rebounds.