For more than 35 minutes Wednesday night, the Barone Bowl
went according to script. Northeastern looked every bit the unbeaten CAA leader
as it produced another unglamorous Bill Coen masterpiece in which the Huskies
never bury their opponent but are never in danger of losing the game.
And the Flying Dutchmen, one of the nine or so teams stuck
in the quagmire that is the middle of the CAA pack, weren’t playing the
error-free game they need to play in order win these days, but their effort was
the type to turn the bus ride home an optimistic one free of
what-could-have-been tossings and turnings—at least until a frantic late
comeback fell just short when Matt Grogan and Stevie Mejia missed potential
game-tying 3-pointers in the final 13 seconds of Northeastern’s 65-60 win.
The Dutchmen trailed by double digits multiple times in the
second half before producing a 7-1 run during the final four minutes that had
the best team in the league reeling at one of the toughest venues in the CAA. No
points are given for close calls, of course, but the lessons the Dutchmen
learned that likely had them wondering “what if” during the four-hour ride bus
home Wednesday night will come in handy over the next seven weeks.
“We hung in there, we hung around, we hung around, we hung
around,” Mo Cassara said at his post-game press conference. “We got a couple
good looks at the basket, just couldn’t tie it up.”
1.) Lesson no. 1, appropriately enough: Northeastern is the
best team in the league, and while the gap between the Huskies and everybody
else is far smaller than it usually is between the no. 1 team and everybody
else, it’s going to require a complete and sound effort to knock them off.
Northeastern has senior leadership in Jonathan Lee, a potential superstar in
Quincy Ford and an outstanding coach in Coen who has molded the Huskies into an
efficient group that maximizes its opportunities on both ends of the court and
rarely lapses into panic mode.
Northeastern never trailed Wednesday and answered every
Dutchmen surge with the type of mini-run that our good friend Mike Litos loves.
In the first half, the Huskies went on a 7-0 run after the Dutchmen tied the
game (for the only time) at 3-3, went on a 6-2 run after the Dutchmen pulled
within 10-7 and went on a 6-0 run after the Dutchmen closed to 24-19.
The biggest second half mini-run was all Ford, who scored
eight unanswered points after the Dutchmen narrowed the lead to 36-32. The
Dutchmen didn’t get within a single possession again until the final minute,
and the three errant shots by Taran Buie, Grogan and Mejia marked the only time
in the last 35 minutes that the Dutchmen had a chance to tie the game.
2.) The Dutchmen, meanwhile, made the type of mistakes they
can’t afford to make against most teams, never mind Northeastern. The Dutchmen
committed 17 turnovers, which the Huskies turned into 28 points. They turned
the ball over three times during Northeastern’s first 7-0 run and turned it
over twice during their late 7-1 as they tried to close within two or three
points.
In addition, the Dutchmen were just 6-of-11 from the free
throw line, including a 2-of-7 effort from guards Stevie Mejia and Taran Buie,
the latter of whom missed both free throws after he stole the ball at midcourt
and was fouled on a fast break in the final 10 seconds of the first half. Those
are the sequences that keep coaches up at night.
As for the ill-fated attempts to tie the game: The Dutchmen
appeared to be trying to catch Northeastern off guard by having Grogan shoot
the 3-pointer off the inbounds pass, but the ball bounced off the shot clock
and caromed to Mejia, who misfired on what appeared to be a decent-looking shot
from beyond the arc.
“When it left his hand, I thought it was in,” Cassara said.
“Really looked like a good shot.”
3.) All that said, there was a lot to be encouraged
about—most notably David Imes’ rapid transformation into a shooting guard. Imes
had the best game of his career—and probably the best game anyone’s played for
the Dutchmen since that guy Jenkins graduated—as he scored 19 points (on 5-of-7
shooting from 3-point land) to go along with five rebounds, three assists and
three blocks. Imes drained a 3-pointer to start the Dutchmen’s late run and
pulled down the rebound that led to Jordan Allen’s layup that closed the gap to
63-60.
Imes, who scored in double figures just once in his first 14
games this year, has scored 29 points in the Dutchmen’s last two games, a
stretch in which he is shooting a blistering 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. He
was 13-of-42 shooting from 3-point land in his first 14 games.
Imes became just the third Hofstra player since 1989-90 to
have a 15-rebound game as well as game in which he drained five 3-pointers.
Imes has twice collected 17 rebounds (most recently against UNC Wilmington on
Feb. 23, 2011). The other members of the exclusive club: Demetrius Dudley
(multiple five 3-pointer games, 16 rebounds against Towson State—THEY WERE
ACTUALLY TOWSON STATE BACK THEN—in the ECC championship game Mar. 9, 1992) and
Norman Richardson (multiple five 3-pointre games. 16 rebounds against New
Hampshire Feb. 17, 2001).
We’ll need to see this for another week or so before we dub
him the Roberto Gittens—i.e. a senior who lifted his play once the calendar
flipped to January—of a new generation, but regardless, it’s pretty impressive
work from someone who spent much of the last two years as an undersized center
or power forward.
“He’s gradually become a guard because we don’t have any
other guys,” Cassara said. “So he’s gone from really playing the ‘5’ for us to
really playing the ‘2,’ and he’s on the perimeter a little bit more. Got some
good looks tonight, made some shots.”
4.) The Dutchmen needed their true shooting guard to make
more shots. Buie’s road struggles continued as he scored 11 points on 4-of-15
shooting, including just 2-of-9 inside the 3-point line. He was a little bit
better in the second half, when he hit both of his 3-pointers and scored eight
points, but his missed layup set up the Dutchmen’s final two 3-point attempts.
In addition, Buie’s first half performance—he was 1-of-6 shooting with two
turnovers, both of which the Huskies converted into baskets—helped put the Dutchmen
into the hole from which they could not escape.
Buie had his breakout game on the road (29 points at Long
Island University Dec. 8), but since then, he’s shooting just 28.3 percent
(15-of-53) in four road games and only 32.9 percent (27-of-82) overall.
“We’ve got to find a way to get him going,” Cassara said.
“We aren’t going to win a lot when he’s 4-of-15 from the field. He’s 8-of-15
from the field tonight, it’s certainly a very close game.”
5.) Worth filing away as the Dutchmen prepare to head to
George Mason for tomorrow afternoon’s tilt: Buie (38 minutes), Mejia (12
points, four assists five turnovers and three steals in 37 minutes), Imes (37
minutes) and Stephen Nwaukoni (another near double-double with 11 points and
eight rebounds in 34 minutes) were all marathon men. Nwaukoni set a career-high
in minutes played and shattered his previous season-high by seven minutes.
Reserves Grogan, Moussa Kone, Daquan Brown and Darren Payen combined for three
points and two rebounds in 32 minutes. Captain Obvious: The Dutchmen will need
more out of their sparse bench going forward, especially come tournament time.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Northeastern, 1/16)
3: David Imes
2: Stephen Nwaukoni
1: Stevie Mejia
SEASON STANDINGS***
24: Taran Buie
22: Stevie Mejia
12: Stephen Nwaukoni
7: David Imes
7: Jordan Allen
4: Moussa Kone
3: Daquan Brown
2: Matt Grogan
***21 points vacated
Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com
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