BOSTON — It’s homecoming week at Northeastern, and the men’s basketball team had a thrilling homecoming of its own on Monday night.
Northeastern returned to the Cabot Center on Monday for their first home game of the season, welcoming the Harvard Crimson. With Matthews Arena undergoing demolition and reconstruction, it marked the first time the program had opened its home schedule at Cabot since the 2020-21 campaign, when the venue served as the team’s home court due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After dropping their first two games against Boston University and No. 9 Virginia, the Huskies entered Monday having lost 15 of their previous 16 games dating back to last season. Harvard opened their season with victories over Division III opponents Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.
Picked second in the Ivy League preseason poll, Harvard entered Monday’s contest against their first Division I opponent of the season. The Crimson also returned four out of their five starters from last season. Meanwhile, head coach Tommy Amaker, in his 20th season with Harvard, was seeking his 500th career win across coaching stints at Seton Hall, Michigan, and Harvard.
Northeastern started the game strong, highlighted by fast-paced transition offense and a 9-2 run midway through the first half. Sophomore guard Louis Bond led the Huskies with nine points at the break, showcasing his playmaking ability and quickness while also adding two blocks on the defensive end. The Huskies continued to push the pace offensively, as freshman guard Dorian Grosber recorded the game’s only first-half fast-break points, scoring four. Against a Crimson team that struggled to move the ball, Northeastern cruised into halftime with a 29-19 lead.
The second half, however, showed just how quickly things can change in college basketball. Despite holding a 17-point lead seven minutes into the second half, Northeastern saw Harvard go on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to cut the deficit to one. Junior guard Robert Hinton led the Crimson during that stretch with nine points.
Although the Huskies managed to hold onto the lead, Harvard eventually pulled ahead, taking a 58-57 advantage on a three-pointer from first-year guard Jason Singleton with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
Although Huskies sophomore forward Brayden Young briefly put Northeastern back in front with a layup, Harvard quickly reclaimed the lead. Two offensive rebounds on the same possession gave senior Crimson forward Thomas Batties II the opportunity to slam it home, putting Harvard ahead 60-59 with 34 seconds remaining.
After Young missed an opportunity to give Northeastern the lead, the Huskies were forced to foul in hopes of getting the ball back after a missed free throw. Crimson junior guard Tey Barbour missed on the front end of a one-and-one, giving Northeastern a chance to win the game.
Following a Northeastern timeout, graduate guard Rashad King went up for the potential game-winning layup, but Batties II blocked the attempt at the rim. With three seconds left, Grosber came away with the ball and threw up a prayer that could have been either a shot or a pass. Somehow, it found its way into the hands of senior guard and captain Mike Loughnane, who went up for the layup.
With the clock showing zeroes, Harvard junior guard Ben Eisendrath was called for a shooting foul on Loughnane’s putback attempt, leaving the game in his hands at the free-throw line.
As the ball rolled off the front rim on Loughnane’s first free-throw attempt, the Cabot faithful held their breath, hoping for a chance at overtime.
“I wasn’t thinking,” Loughnane said after the game. “You just miss it sometimes. The whole thing is what’s the next play, so I missed the first one, [and] it’s out of my head immediately. [I] just [thought] about the next one.”
The second free-throw attempt bounced off the front rim once again, but this time caught the backboard and in. Despite leading for more than 39 minutes, Northeastern’s home opener was headed to overtime.
Harvard quickly took a 65-62 lead a minute and a half into overtime, but a right-wing three by King leveled the game once more at 65 with two minutes remaining.
Both sides traded baskets, with Bond and Barbour each hitting a three to even the game at 70.
With less than a minute left and the Cabot crowd on their feet, Loughnane floated to the basket with a right-handed layup to put the Huskies back in front by two, their first lead since the end of the second half.
After being fouled on the perimeter, Singleton went to the line for two free throws that could have sent the game to a second overtime. He missed both attempts, but the Crimson were able to get their hands on the ball after King initially secured the rebound for Northeastern. With the possession arrow in Harvard’s favor, the Crimson had another chance to tie or win the game.
Working on his left and driving to the paint, Eisendrath was met at the rim by Grosber, who helped force the miss. Northeastern secured the rebound, and Loughnane converted both free throws to seal a 74-70 victory in a wild home opener.
Playing in his third collegiate game, it was only the second career block for Grosber, but it was the biggest play of an already highlight-filled night.
“I thought it was a terrific college basketball game, very entertaining,” said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen. “Both teams made winning plays. We were just fortunate enough to make one more winning play than them.”
Playing in his first game in front of the home faithful, Bond led the Huskies with 22 points and five rebounds, shooting 8-for-15 from the field.
“You could definitely feel the energy, you could feel the fans, [and] you could feel the arena,” Bond said. “I love playing here, so it was really fun.”
King also recorded his first double-double since returning to Northeastern, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds despite shooting 5-for-16 from the field.
The Huskies finished the game with zero bench points, the first time they had been held scoreless off the bench since Feb.12, 2022, when Northeastern lost 67-51 to Drexel in Philadelphia.
With their first win of the season, Northeastern improves their record to 1-2 on the young campaign. The Huskies face Yale, their second Ivy League opponent in a row, on Friday at 7 p.m. Aiden Barker and Mohammad Sheikh will have the call on WRBB 104.9FM.
Daniel Ku is the Operations Manager for WRBB Sports and has covered Northeastern sports since 2024. Read all of his articles here, and find him on Twitter/X here.