WILMINGTON, N.C. - Northeastern rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to pull out a 65-56 victory over UNC Wilmington in Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball action Tuesday at Trask Coliseum.
The Huskies remained tied for first in the CAA standings with Old Dominion at 13-3 in league play and also improved to 18-9 on the season. The Seahawks slipped to 8-19 with the loss and dropped to 4-12 in conference play.
"I have no fault at all with our effort," said Brooks Lee, UNCW's interim head coach. "Our guys played their hearts out. Turnovers have been our downfall all year. Northeastern got into the passing lanes, extended its defense and we turned the ball over."
Junior guard Chaisson Allen scored a game-high 23 points and senior forward Manny Adako chipped in 22 markers to highlight a Northeastern attack that made 24-of-52 field goal attempts in the contest, including 50 percent on 14-for-28 from the floor in the second half. Senior guard Matt Janning joined the pair in double figures with 12 points, with eight coming in the final 20 minutes.
Junior guard Ahmad Grant was the only UNCW player in double figures with 11 points before fouling out with just under four minutes remaining. Freshman forward Keith Rendlemen finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Leading 35-24 at the break, UNCW opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play by Rendleman to take its largest lead of the game, 38-24, before back-to-back jumpers by Adako sparked a 13-3 Northeastern run over a 2:31 span that pulled the Huskies within six, 41-35.
The two teams traded baskets over the next three and a half minutes until a three-pointer from the left side from Janning ignited a 14-2 Huskies spurt that gave Northeastern its first lead since the 19:45 mark of the first half, 53-50, at 5:56 of the second half.
Back-to-back baskets by senior guard Darion Jeralds and Grant put the Seahawks back in front, 54-53, But the Huskies closed out the contest with a 12-2 run over the final four minutes and Northeastern made nine of its final 10 attempts at the free-throw line.
With the score tied at 6-all, early in the first half, a three-pointer from the top of the key by junior Dominique Lacy ignited a 16-3 run that propelled the Seahawks to a 22-9 lead at the ten minute mark of the opening frame. UNCW made all four of its three-point attempts in the stretch.
The two teams kept pace with each other over the final 10 minutes of the opening half as the Seahawks took a 35-24 lead into the locker room.
Both teams return to action Saturday as part of the Bracketbusters series. UNCW travels to Radford for a 7 p.m. start, while Northeastern hosts Louisiana Tech in a 1 p.m. tip-off at Matthews Arena in Boston.
GAME NOTES: Junior forward John Fields went down with a dislocated left kneecap at the 18-minute mark of the first half and is out up to two week... Grant reached double figures for the eighth time this season and the third straight contest ... The Seahawks' bench out-scored NU's reserves by a 23-8 margin ... Northeastern posted a 40-22 edge in points in the paint ... UNCW held a 40-30 rebounding edge in the contest ... The Seahawks were 10-for-24 (.467) from the floor in the first half, but just 9-of-28 (.321) from the field in the final 20 minutes ... NU now leads the series, 4-3...The Seahawks fell to 4-8 at home this season...The Huskies outscored the Seahawks by 20 points in the second half...UNCW suffered its fourth series sweep of the season in the CAA.
