Northeastern Beats UNCW, 80-59, To Reach Sixth Semifinal In Seven Years
Rob Washburn
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 10, 2019) – Jordan Roland scored a team-high 21 points and led an impressive Northeastern shooting performance from 3-point range as the second-seeded Huskies earned an 80-59 victory over No. 10 UNCW in the quarterfinals of the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by Jersey Mike’s Subs.
Northeastern (21-10), which advanced to the semifinals of the CAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years, will face either No. 3 Charleston or No. 6 Drexel in Monday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal. UNCW closed the season with a 10-23 mark.
Roland went 8-for-13 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three, and was joined in double figures by Bolden Brace with 17 points and Vasa Pusica with 16 points. Brace went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Pusica provided seven assists and six boards.
Northeastern jumped out to a quick 17-3 start and maintained a double-digit lead for much of the period. UNCW closed to within six with 3:24 to play in the half, but the Huskies pushed their advantage to 39-28 at the break. The Huskies opened the second half on a 12-1 run and increased the margin to as much as 27 with 8:37 remaining.
Northeastern shot 48.3% from the floor, including 12-of-26 from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Huskies limited UNCW to just 1-of-7 shooting from three and 40% shooting overall.
UNCW senior forward Devontae Cacok turned in another impressive performance in the final game of his collegiate career with team-highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds. Cacok finishes his career with 59 double-doubles and a nation’s-best 24 double-doubles on the season. He also ranks third on the CAA all-time rebounds list with 1,263.
UNCW freshman Kai Toews made history in the loss, as his four assists moved his total to 253 for the season, breaking the CAA mark of 251 previously held by George Mason’s Curtis McCants during the 1994-95 season and Navy’s Doug Wojcik in the 1985-86 season.