By: Mack Krell
After beating Drexel on the road this past Thursday night, Northeastern came home and beat Drexel 70-60 in Matthews Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Northeastern (14-13, 6-8 CAA) got off to a hot start in this contest, leading 28-15 midway through the first half. This was thanks to some strong early shooting by David Walker and Jeremy Miller. Up 15-12 7 minutes into the game, Northeastern went on a 10-0 run fueled by strong defense and two three pointers from veteran leaders on the team, David Walker and Quincy Ford. This put Northeastern up by 13 points, and Drexel never got within 8 points after that point. Ford and Walker ultimately led the team in scoring; Walker finished with 21 points and 5 assists and Ford finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
“You couldn’t ask for better guys to coach or better people to represent your program,“ said Coach Bill Coen discussing the leadership of Ford and Walker. “[They] put themselves in the record book but did it in a way that was never really about them; it was always about the team.”
Northeastern was able to build a 15-point lead going into the half through finding good shots and shooting the ball well. In the first half, Northeastern shot 14-23 (60.9%) from the field and 9-15 (60%) from three-point range in the first half.
In the second half, Drexel competed with Northeastern, cutting the lead to eight with 3:26 to go in the game. Drexel was able to take advantage of their size advantage down low and continuously attacked the paint with their leading scorer Rodney Williams. Williams finished the game with 23 points, and also forced some of Northeastern’s big men into foul trouble in the second half.
After the game, Coach Coen discussed the struggles Northeastern had tonight stopping Rodney Williams.
“First, he’s a good player; he’s tough to guard. Second, we have a young frontcourt. We had three freshman give it a try and that’s an experienced player.”
Coen also discussed the trouble Northeastern has had this season guarding the low post. “We know that’s been an issue for us: foul trouble on the interior all year long. We gotta get a little stingier with that, whether that’s our guards coming down to help or our big men playing better position defense.”
Despite Drexel’s small run in the second half, Northeastern was able to close out the game with free throw shooting down the stretch. Northeastern finished 15-18 (83.3%) from the free throw line for the game.
Looking forward, Northeastern travels to James Madison (19-7, 9-4 CAA) to play on Thursday, February 18th. Matthew MacCormack and Dan McLoone will be on the call.