By: Matthew MacCormack
BOSTON — The Huskies hung around for a while, but Charleston got superstar performances from their top three players and rode hot shooting to a 85-71 victory over Northeastern on Saturday afternoon at Matthews Arena. NU seniors Jimmy Marshall, Alex Murphy and T.J. Williams played their final games at Matthews on Senior Day.
The trio of Joe Chealey (29 points), Jarrell Brantley (21 points) and Grant Riller (21 points) combined to score 86% of Charleston’s points. Incredible three-point shooting outputs from Chealey (6 of 8) and Riller (5 of 9) opened up the high post for the 6’7 Brantley, who also posted seven rebounds.
For the game, Charleston shot 63% from the floor and 50% from three.
“They played a terrific game,” said head coach Bill Coen. “They have an inside-outside balance that’s tough to deal with.”
Williams’ 18 points led the way for NU. After a layup from Max Boursiquot (10 points) knotted the game at 48 with 13:57 to play, Charleston’s three stars pushed the game out of reach. The lead ballooned to as large as 17.
“[Charleston] kept us on a string today. And I thought they played on a championship level.”
Marshall, Murphy and Williams all got the start, and were honored pre-game for Senior Day festivities.
“It’s been great just to be able to be out there with a great group of guys that I can call my brothers,” Williams said. “Building those relationships is what it’s all about.”