NU will meet UNCW in Sunday's semifinals.
Huskies Down Blue Hens To Wrap Up Quarters
Tim McDonnell
Boxscore |
#CAAChamps Central Page
BALTIMORE (March 7, 2015) - Junior guard David Walker scored a team-high 17 points, including hitting on four consecutive free throws during the final 14.1 seconds, to lead Northeastern to a 67-64 victory over Delaware in Saturday’s fourth quarterfinal game in the Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Championship at Royal Farms Arena.
Third-seeded Northeastern (21-11) advances to a 5 p.m. Sunday semifinal meeting with second-seeded UNCW (18-12), a 79-53 winner over 10th-seeded College of Charleston in Saturday’s third quarterfinal game. The Huskies will play in the tournament semifinals for the third straight season while sixth-seeded Delaware fell to 10-20 with the loss.
Walker hit on five of eight shots from the field, including three of four from three-point range, and four of five free throws. He missed on the first of a one-and-one free throw chance with 23 seconds remaining and Northeastern leading 63-62 but connected on both ends of one-and-one opportunities with 14.1 and 7.8 seconds left.
After Walker’s miss at the foul line with 23.1 seconds remaining, Delaware failed to hit on two shots during the ensuing possession, and Walker was foul after rebounding the second miss. He connected on both free throw attempts and did the same seconds later after being fouled following a layup by freshman guard Kory Holden that pulled Delaware to within 65-64 with 8.9 seconds to play.
Delaware on its final possession got off a shot that missed from near the left sideline between the three-point arc and the half court line by freshman guard-forward Chivarsky Corbett as time was expiring.
Northeastern held the game’s largest lead of eight points – 52-44 on Walker’s fastbreak layup with 10:14 remaining and 54-46 on a jumper by junior guard Zach Stahl with 9:26 left – but Delaware got six points from redshirt sophomore forward Maurice Jeffers and five from redshirt junior forward Marvin King-Davis to get to within 61-60 with 2:52 to play.
Redshirt junior forward-guard Quincy Ford scored on a turnaround jumper in the lane to give Northeastern a 63-60 edge with 1:45 left, and Holden got the Blue Hens to within 63-62 on a short driving shot with 30.9 seconds to play.
Northeastern had leads of 11-4 and 14-7, but Delaware overcame seven turnovers during the opening four minutes by hitting on six of its first seven shots. The Blue Hens got their first lead since the opening minute at 22-21 on Holden’s 15-footer at 6:32 of the first half and led 24-21 on a dunk by Corbett off a Northeastern turnover at 5:10. However, Northeastern closed the half with a 14-7 run, including seven points from Stahl and a three-pointer at 0:03 by Walker to lead 35-31 at the halftime.
Ford and Stahl joined Walker in double figures in scoring for Northeastern with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Ford hit on six of 10 shots and had three three-pointers, and Stahl hit on five of eight shots and had a team-leading six rebounds.
The Huskies shot 55.0 percent (11-20) during the final half and 54.8 percent (23-42) overall and connected on seven of 13 three-point attempts in the game.
Holden was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, but his two late field goals accounted for his only points of the final period after he scored 16 during the opening half. He hit on five of seven first-half shots and seven of 12 overall.
Senior guard Kyle Anderson added 11 points and Jeffers 10 for Delaware, which shot 47.2 percent (25-53). The Blue Hens had a 25-23 rebounding advantage and finished with only 13 turnovers to Northeastern’s 15 despite their early turnover problems.