Fight For First Won By Northeastern

Waiting for the Huskies on their fifth day in Virginia was the VCU Rams.

The Huskies went into the Siegel Center tied for first with VCU in the CAA. As the bus pulled out of the hotel and drove down the street to the arena, you could see the long line of people waiting to get into the game. The players knew what they were in for, and poised to close this trip out the right way.

Before the game coach Coen emphasized that this night was what the team had worked for all summer. The players took it to heart, and came out firing opening up a 29-13 lead with 6:27 left.

However the Rams, led by Eric Maynor’s 30 points, were not about to lay down and die. They closed the half on a 17-5 run, to cut the Huskies lead to 34-30 at the half.

The second half started just as the first one began, with the Huskies catching fire early. Two Eugene Spates three-pointers and another one from Chaisson Allen gave the Huskies a 50-41 lead for Northeastern. Then Maynor got hot and brought the Rams back scoring 14 of their next 18 points to make it 52-46 with 6:37 left to play.

But Eugene Spates kept the Husky attack on point with his fourth three-pointer of the night to make it 57-46 with 5:52 remaining. Things got a little chippy from there when Maynor was fouled by Janning on a breakaway and proceeded to throw him to the ground and yell over him and then into the camera. Manny Adako then pushed Maynor into the front row, and was then pushed himself by Bradford Burgess. Eugene Spates then went to go pick up Janning who was still laying on the ground, and Maynor proceeded to go at Spates until the referee stepped in. But Maynor did not stop there, he actually got into it with the official and had to be separated from him, yet he was given no technical foul.

So Maynor shoves Janning to the ground and on the replay it looks like he swings his arm at Janning’s face, almost like a punch. He then stands over him and screams at him, does not move and screams for into the camera for more media attention, tries to start up a fight with Spates, and then gets into it with the official! Out of a possible four technical fouls Maynor could have earned, he did not receive one. Adako and Burgess were each hit with one, which offset, and Maynor shot the one free throw on the original foul, making the score 58-54 with 2:09 remaining.

Just when it looked like the Huskies would get rattled, they didn’t. Baptiste Bataille came up big in the clutch for the Huskies, hitting four key free throws down the stretch, while also bothering Maynor on one of his final shot attempts from deep. Nkem Ojougboh also came up big with a monster rejection of Ed Nixon’s lay up attempt. Chris Alvarez, who played big for the Huskies scoring 4 points while grabbing 8 rebounds, hit a free throw with 25 seconds left to give the Huskies a 64-61 lead. Maynor missed a three-pointer, and the Huskies hit their free throws to seal the victory, 68-63.

What a historical week for the Huskies, beating George Mason, Old Dominion, and Virginia Commonwealth in a row. If somebody knows if this is correct or incorrect let me know, but from what I’ve gathered, the Huskies may have made history in beating those three teams in a row. Now, Northeastern can look at the standings and see themselves in first place, all alone.