Northeastern Tops Towson To Reach Seventh Semifinal In Eight Years
Rob Washburn
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | SIGHTS & SOUNDS | PHOTO GALLERY | NORTHEASTERN PRESSER | TOWSON PRESSER
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 8, 2020) – Sixth-seeded Northeastern held off a second-half Towson surge and knocked off the #3 Tigers, 72-62, in the final quarterfinal game of the 2020 Hercules Tires CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday night at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
Defending champion Northeastern (16-15) advanced to the semifinals of the CAA Tournament for the seventh time in the past eight years and will meet #7 Elon at 8:30 p.m. on Monday night. It’s the first time since 1993 that the #6 and #7 seeds have reached the semifinals.
The Huskies, who shot an impressive 52.9% from the floor, got a balanced scoring effort with four players tallying double figures. Forward Maxime Boursiquot led NU with 16 points on 7-of-10 FG shooting, while Bolden Brace contributed 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Shaquille Walters added 14 points and freshman Tyson Walker chipped in 13 points off the bench.
Towson (19-13) got a game-high 21 points from All-CAA guard Brian Fobbs. Dennis Tunstall tallied nine points and a team-best nine boards, while Nakye Sanders and Jakigh Dottin also scored nine apiece.
Northeastern was in control much of the way and built a 47-31 lead on a Guilien Smith layup with 14:42 remaining. Trailing by 12 with under 12 minutes to play, Towson went on a 10-2 run to trim the deficit to four on a Dottin free throw with 8:21 on the clock.
The Tigers, who shot 56.5% from the floor in the second half, stayed within striking deficit down the stretch, but a Bolden Brace reverse layup put Northeastern up 64-57 with 1:42 to go. The Huskies never let Towson any closer than that the rest of the way.
Northeastern, closed the first half on a 6-0 run to take a 41-31 advantage into the locker room. Boursiquot paced the Huskies with 12 points on 5-of-7 FG shooting over the first 20 minutes, while Fobbs tallied 10 points for Towson.
For the first time in tournament history, the semifinals will feature the No. 1, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 seeds.