Doherty's Career Night Powers Northeastern Past William & Mary in Overtime Opener of CAA Championship
Rob Washburn
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 5, 2022) – Redshirt junior forward Chris Doherty went 10-for-10 from the floor and scored 24 of his career-high 26 points after halftime to lead 9
th-seeded Northeastern past #8 William & Mary, 68-63, in overtime in the opening round game of the 2022 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Jersey Mike’s Saturday evening at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
The Huskies (9-21) advance to play top-seeded Towson at Noon on Sunday in the quarterfinals. The Tribe ended its season with a 5-27 mark.
Doherty’s 10-for-10 shooting effort was the second-best in tournament history, trailing only a 12-for-12 performance from Navy’s David Robinson in 1985. Along with surpassing his previous career scoring high of 22 points, he contributed six rebounds and four blocked shots. Shaquille Walters added 17 points for Northeastern.
Freshman guard Tyler Rice led a balanced scoring effort for William & Mary with 15 points and Ben Wight chipped in 14. Brandon Carroll contributed a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
In a game that was tightly contested throughout, W&M took its largest lead, 32-27, on a Carroll layup with 12:40 to go in the second half. NU battled back behind the inside dominance of Doherty, who scored 21 of the Huskies’ 38 second-half points, including a layup that pulled NU within 54-53 with 1:38 left. The Tribe pushed its advantage back to three on a Wight hook shot with 1:13 on the clock, but NU responded with a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Nikola Djogo that tied the contest at 56-56 with 39 seconds remaining and forced overtime. It was Djogo’s first made field goal in 10 attempts in the contest.
Northeastern never trailed in the extra session, going up 64-56 on a Doherty three-point play with 1:06 to go. The Tribe closed to within three on a Wight rebound bucket with 10.9 seconds to go, but NU was able to seal the win with free throws from Jason Strong and Jahmyl Telfort in the final 11 seconds.
Both teams struggled offensively during a first half in which neither team led by more than four points. A three-pointer by Yuri Covington put the Tribe up 15-13 with 5:52 left in the period, but a trey from NU’s Jason Strong with 1:28 remaining gave the Huskies an 18-17 edge at the break. W&M shot 22.7% from the floor and made just 1-of-9 from three, while NU hit only 21.4% of its field goal attempts and was 2-of-13 from beyond the arc during the lowest-scoring first half in tournament history.
Northeastern head coach Bill Coen recorded his 19
th victory in the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, surpassing George Mason’s Jim Larranaga for the most all-time.
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