Can you remember the last time Northeastern men’s basketball started 8-3?
If you can’t, you’re not alone. That memory would be from 1985, when a Reggie Lewis-led Huskies team started 13-2 before rolling to an ECAC championship and an eventual NCAA Tournament berth. After a first-round loss at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners, legendary head coach Jim Calhoun departed for UConn, and the Huskies haven’t hit that high-water mark since.
On Sunday in Norfolk, however, this 2024-25 Northeastern team had a chance to break that 39-year streak in the most unassuming of ways; all that stood between the Huskies and an 8-3 start were the 3-7 Old Dominion Monarchs, a team reeling off four unsightly losses in five games.
And, while it wasn’t always the prettiest (this Northeastern team doesn’t tend to be), the Huskies battled from tip-off to the final buzzer, earning a gritty 75-71 victory.
In what’s become typical Northeastern fashion, the first half provided more whys than wows. After roaring out to a 17-8 lead just over seven minutes in, the Huskies stalled, scoring just four points over the next nine minutes as ODU whittled their advantage down to one.
Northeastern regained some footing from there, as back-to-back threes from William Kermoury and Harold Woods restored a more substantial margin. However, stellar play on both ends by the Monarchs’ seven-foot Caelum Swanton-Rodger kept the game within reach before LA Pratt drew a goaltending call as the horn sounded, sending the Huskies into the break with a 31-26 lead.
Despite the lead, the first half’s film probably won’t be shown at too many basketball camps this summer; Northeastern committed five turnovers, surrendered eight offensive rebounds, and shot just 42% from the floor in a jagged frame. However, as has been the case all season, the defense more than did its job, holding Old Dominion to a paltry 36%, including 0-5 from beyond the arc.
At the intermission, it was eerily reminiscent of the Dec. 8 game against Colgate, where the Huskies scored just 28 first half points before exploding for 50 in the back nine en route to a nail-biting win.
Sunday’s game had a slightly different script, but the same overall concept: after some back-and-forth play resulted in a 43-39 Northeastern cushion at the 12:17 mark, Masai Troutman orchestrated a three-minute, 11-1 run to push the lead to 14. All of a sudden, the Huskies appeared poised to break the game open.
You know the story; the knockout punch never came.
A cold-shooting ODU made just their second and third threes of the night to cut the lead to six with 3:32 left. After King free throws extended it to eight, Northeastern then missed a pair of free throws on one possession and turned it over on the next. In the blink of an eye, an impenetrable eight was just four, and what was a dormant Chartway Arena crowd began to stir.
Fortunately for the Huskies, they were up to the challenge of yet another free throw contest, albeit narrowly. King, Kermoury, and Troutman combined to do just enough from the charity stripe, even as the Monarchs hit three after three to keep the Huskies within striking distance. Finally, with five seconds remaining, Kermoury sank the back half of a heart-in-throat pair to give Northeastern an insurmountable four-point cushion. ODU’s RJ Blakney’s three fell off the rim, and Bill Coen’s group escaped their latest high-wire act with a 75-71 win.
It’s absolutely fair to wonder where Northeastern would be without the services of Rashad King. The junior guard made Sunday his latest in a season full of star performances, notching a game-high 21 points alongside nine rebounds and four assists. He was there every time the Huskies needed him, knocking down three three-pointers and doing his part from the free throw line as he excelled throughout his 37 minutes on the floor.
Elsewhere, Northeastern got balanced contributions: Pratt and Troutman scored 15 apiece, while Woods, Kermoury, and Metcalf chipped in with nine, eight, and seven, respectively. The game saw a marked reduction in minutes for Alex Nwagha, who did not appear in the second half, and Youri Fritz, who recorded just ten minutes – a stark drop-off from recent games.
For the Monarchs, sophomore guard Robert Davis Jr. led the way with 17 points, but a well-rounded effort saw seven players score at least five points. Of the six non-Davis players to fall into that category, Swanton-Rodgers was the most impressive; the Canadian seven-footer recorded 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks, deterring Husky rim attempts on a multitude of occasions.
A brief scare went by the wayside when Kermoury seemingly avoided major injury. With five minutes remaining in the second half, The Swede went down with a gruesome-looking ankle injury, but after rolling around in what appeared to be some considerable pain, the sophomore was able to walk to the bench and even returned to the game in the closing moments. However, the Huskies may not have emerged unscathed; while there was no apparent injury to Nwagha, he was nowhere to be found after a five-minute cameo in the first half, which is deeply uncharacteristic. His status is certainly one to look out for ahead of Wednesday’s clash in Amherst.
Northeastern will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 18 when they travel to the Mullins Center to take on UMass. WRBB will have written coverage as well as live updates on Twitter, with tip set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.