By: Justin Littman
After falling to Boston University on Tuesday, the Huskies faced another difficult cross-town rival on Friday. Northeastern was ready for the challenge, and took down the Crimson 81-71. The Huskies struggled early, falling behind 21-11 after with 7:06 to go in the first half. From there, the Northeastern offense caught fire. The Huskies went on a 14-0 in the span of two minutes, knocking down three after three. This run started a stretch where Northeastern shot 10/11 from behind the arc. They ended up shooting 56 percent from downtown in the game.
The Huskies were led by the stellar play of guard Jordan Roland. In only his second game with the program, the junior transfer from George Washington went off for 35 points, and made seven three pointers. Roland, who came off the bench for the Huskies in this one, provided the team with a huge spark. While Roland may have surprised some observers, his stellar play came as no surprise to Coach Bill Coen.
“We’ve seen Jordan shoot all preseason and last year. He can really shoot the ball and he got it going tonight.”
Northeastern needed the offense, as Justin Bassey held Vasa Pusica in check throughout the game. After scoring 31 in the opener, Pusica was held to just 10 points on 2-10 shooting. Contrasted with the first game, tonight was a total team effort from the Huskies. Donnell Gresham had 13 points and hit a big three to put the Huskies up eight with 1:16 to go. Bolden Brace, Anthony Green, and Tomas Murphy each contributed six points as well.
“That’s what the team game is all about…I thought Vasa did a good job of letting the game come to him and directly our club and giving others confidence”, Coen remarked after the game.
Next up for the Huskies is a trip down to Charleston for the Charleston Classic. They will square off against Alabama in the first round, in the first of three games in the event. That game will tip on Thursday, November 15th at 2 PM.