By: P.J. Wright
BOSTON – After Northeastern jumped out to a 21-point lead at halftime, Elon quickly came roaring back and brought the game to within six points with just under 13 minutes to play.
That’s as close as they would get.
The Huskies staved off the furious comeback to defeat the Phoenix, 72-60, on Friday night at Matthews Area. Northeastern improves to 2-1 in CAA play and 9-6 overall.
“I thought we got great contributions from up and down the lineup,” said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen. “Good teams are going to make a run, but I was really proud of our guys to withstand that run and hang on for the victory.”
Redshirt junior Vasa Pusica led the charge for Northeastern with 20 points, four assists, four rebounds while Devon Begley put together a solid game off the bench with 12 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the line, to go along with four steals.
Northeastern seemed to be everywhere on the defensive end, totaling 11 steals and forcing Elon to commit 19 turnovers.
“I though our defense ignited our offense,” Coen added. “We have a pretty together group and we got a lot of pride as well…and guys went out there and competed.”
Senior Dmitri Thompson and Junior Tyler Seibring scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, while Elon’s leading scorer, junior Dainan Swoope was limited to just five.
Northeastern will be back in Matthews Arena on Sunday afternoon to take on James Madison at 2 p.m. The Huskies came out on top in their last meeting, 81-70, on Dec. 30.