Some nights, everything just goes your way.
For Northeastern, Thursday’s trip to Hampton certainly fell in that category. The Huskies jumped in front on the first possession, bashed the rearview mirror to bits, and cruised to a wire-to-wire, 78-69 victory over the Pirates.
JB Frankel jump-started the festivities with two threes in the opening minutes, allowing Northeastern to open up an eight-point lead before Hampton registered a point. That lead ballooned as large as 24-7 before an 11-2 Pirates run, but the Huskies responded, engineering a 15-0 spurt to blow this one wide open at 41-18 before a better-contested end to the half saw the lead trimmed to 44-25 at the intermission.
Northeastern has been known to loosen their grip once they’ve opened a lead, but avoided that to begin the second, ripping off ten straight points to widen the gap to a jaw-dropping 29 points with 16:50 to play. A Youri Fritz free throw a few moments later made it a 30-point margin – a level of domination almost unheard of in conference play, particularly on the road.
Hampton narrowed the margin to 24 before the benches emptied, but a flurry by the Huskies’ Ryan Williams restored a 30-point cushion with 4:41 to play. A minute later, with the score at 73-48, William Kermoury made his return to the lineup a sweet one, knocking down a top-of-the-key triple and pushing the lead near 30 again.
As you know, though, this one ended with a single-digit margin. With both teams’ benches empty, Hampton heated up in a flash, taking advantage of Northeastern’s sloppiness and finishing the game on a 21-5 run. While the outcome of the game was never truly in doubt, the run of ugly play certainly drew the ire of Bill Coen, who benched senior guard Nate Francois just moments into his cameo after Francois committed a needless, dead-ball technical foul with seconds remaining.
Besides the last few minutes, though, there wasn’t too much to complain about; the Huskies played 37 minutes of beautiful basketball, three minutes of burn-the-tape hideous basketball, and ultimately rolled to a 78-69 win that was nowhere near as close as the final scoreline indicated.
Those 37 minutes were supported by a balanced attack; four Huskies scored in double figures, six recorded at least one assist, and the team shot 53% overall and 40% from downtown. It was a particularly good night for Woods, who notched 16 points alongside six rebounds and two assists, earning himself a FloSports Player of the Game award in the process.
Rashad King and LA Pratt deserve some praise, as well – the former recorded seven assists and five steals with his 11 points, and the latter dished five dimes, grabbed five rebounds, and swiped three steals to add to his 12 in the scoring column. Elsewhere, Frankel (11 points, six rebounds, three assists) and Collin Metcalf (two points, five blocks) stood out for the Huskies.
Only George Beale Sr. really showed up for the Pirates; the junior guard scored 19 points, leading all scorers. Star guard Noah Farrakhan pulled a disappearing act, putting up a goose egg on 0-of-5 shooting across his 26 minutes of play.
“Sometimes, it’s just not your night,” said Hampton head coach Ivan Thomas. “Tonight, I’m not sure what team that was that showed up… but that wasn’t [us].”
On the other side, it was a welcome return for Kermoury, who hadn’t played since December 15 at Old Dominion. The sophomore shot just 1-of-6, but looked somewhat lively, and his presence provides Northeastern with much-needed depth while Masai Troutman continues to nurse a hamstring issue. He’s more than just a body, too – with today’s win, the Huskies moved to 7-1 with Kermoury in the lineup, and just 5-9 when he sits.
Northeastern will return to action on Saturday, when they’ll take on Elon at the Schar Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., with written coverage here and a telecast on FloSports.