NU sweeps away Elon to open CAA slate
Strong, Walker pace Huskies with 17 points
NORTHEASTERN 66 ELON 58
The Northeastern Huskies deliberately scheduled tough competition before conference play began, in hopes of enhancing their chances in the CAA.
So far, so good. NU completed a weekend sweep of Elon on Sunday at Solomon Court with a 66-58 victory in the opening CAA series for both schools. The Huskies prevailed 75-52 on Saturday and head into Thursday night’s encounter at Hofstra at 3-5 overall and 2-0 in the league.
The Huskies segued into their conference calendar with a tough but limited non-league dance card that included a home-andhome with UMass and road stops at Syracuse, Old Dominion, Georgia and West Virginia, which was in the top 10.
“There are a lot of different philosophies in terms of nonconference scheduling and it’s always been our philosophy to go out and play against the very best that we can find,” said NU coach Bill Coen.
“In each of those contests we were able establish our own identity and gain a little confidence at an individual level and a team level. Based on the strength of that schedule we are able to come in and be prepared for opening weekend.”
NU shot 44.6% and logged 33 rebounds and 10 assists. Forward Jason Strong and guard Tyson Walker led the way with 17 points apiece while Shaquille Walters and Jahmyl Telfort combined for 25.
The Huskies’ plan for the second half was to attack the rim on offense and disrupt Elon’s rotation with pressure defense and rebounding. Neither camp seized the initiative in the early going an NU went into the second media timeout leading 47-38.
Walker got NU trending with a pair of hard drives. Strong added a fadeaway in the paint to put NU up 5138 with 10:11 remaining. NU then cooled off and Elon launched a 12-2 run. A 3-pointer by guard Kris Wooten cut NU’s lead to 53-50 with 4:16 to play.
“The second half kind of settled down into a slugfest but I thought our defense held ground for us when we struggled offensively,” said Coen.
Walker responded with a 3-ball from the left of the key that set the Huskies into end-game mode. Elon refused to wilt and cut the lead to 62-58 with a pair from the line by guard Hunter McIntosh (17 points) with 56.9 seconds to play. Walker scored eight of NU’s final 13 points to close out the game.
“Coach called some good plays for us five on the court and Tyson made some big shots,” said Strong.
The Huskies opened the game with a 19-4 run, an impressive offensive explosion fueled by perimeter defense and rebounding in the home end. Forward Coleman Stucke swished a pair of treys and Walker added another to put NU up 11-2, prompting Elon coach Scott Schrage to call timeout at 17:28. Strong scored six points on the backend of the run and put NU up 15 with a pull-up jumper in the lane with 14:53 to play.
The Phoenix absorbed all the abuse they could handle and struck back with a 17-4 surge. Elon began forcing turnovers and beating the Huskies up the floor in transition. Federico Poser, a junior forward from Italy, scored consecutive layups to cut the score to 23-17 with 9:20 to play.
“Early on we were making shots and the offense was flowing but you knew they were going to have a run in them,” said Coen.
The Huskies defused the meltdown with a 12-0 spurt over a four-minute span to go back up 35-17. Telfort scored six with an improbable scoop shot on the baseline, two from the stripe and a dunk. Elon countered with an 8-0 run of its own to close out the first half with the Huskies in front 35-25 at the break.