NU's Vasa Pusica had 15 points, 10 assists and eight boards in the quarterfinal victory.
Northeastern Tops Delaware, 74-50, To Reach Semis
Rob Washburn
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 4, 2018) – Northeastern broke open a close game with a 14-2 scoring burst to start the second half and went on to beat Delaware 74-50 in Sunday’s third quarterfinal game of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Jersey Mike’s Subs.
The victory sends second-seeded Northeastern (22-9) into Monday’s tournament semifinals where the Huskies will meet the winner of Sunday’s final quarterfinal game between third-seeded Hofstra and sixth-seeded UNCW at 8:30 p.m. Northeastern, which won its eighth straight game, will be appearing in the tournament’s semifinals for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The loss dropped seventh-seeded Delaware, a Saturday first-round tournament winner, to 14-19.
Northeastern trailed for only 18 seconds of the first half but led just 33-28 at the break before seizing control early during the final period. The Huskies held Delaware scoreless for the first 5:02 of the half while raising their advantage 39-28 and led 47-30 with 13:38 remaining. The Northeastern edge reached 63-41 with 5:43 to play and 74-46 with 1:22 left.
Four Northeastern players had points during the 14-2 run to start the second half, including sophomore guard Bolden Brace, who had a three-pointer and a two-point field goal, and junior guard Vasa Pusica, who had a pair of two-pointers. Delaware didn’t score during the half until junior forward Eric Carter hit on a hook shoot from the lane to cut Northeastern’s lead to 39-30 at 14:58, and the Blue Hens didn’t get their second field goal of the period until the 12:30 mark when Northeastern led 49-31. Delaware shot only 33.3 percent (8-24) after halftime.
Pusica, a first-team all-conference honoree, finished with a near triple-double and was among three Northeastern players to score in double figures. He had 15 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in 37 minutes and hit on six of 12 shots from the field, including two three-pointers. Sophomore forward Maxime Boursiquot led the Huskies with 17 points on six-of-eight shooting, and Brace hit on five of nine shots and had 13 points.
Northeastern shot 56.5 percent (13-23) during the second half and 51.9 percent 27-52) overall and had a 39-24 rebounding advantage. The Huskies’ defense limited the Blue Hens to just 1-of-14 from 3-point range.
Sophomore guard Ryan Daly, a third-team all-conference selection, led Delaware with 23 points. He hit on nine of 16 shots and had a team-high eight rebounds in 38 minutes.
Northeastern’s victory gave the CAA Tournament’s No. 2 seeds an all-time record of 27-6 in quarterfinal play.