Rams fall to Northeastern for third straight time, 74-62 By Scott Day VCU Director of Athletic Communication
One of the biggest hits for legendary band Poison was “Every Rose has a Thorn.” Brett Michaels and company might have been writing about the VCU men’s basketball team and their recent history with the Huskies of Northeastern University.
The Rams (13-5, 5-4 CAA) dropped their third straight meeting against Northeastern (13-7, 8-1 CAA) with a 74-62 loss at Matthews Arena on Saturday afternoon.
“First of all, I have to give Northeastern a lot of credit for playing a tremendous basketball game and executing their game plan,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “I’m not disappointed in our guys effort, because I thought the effort was there. We lacked the basketball intelligence and the unselfishness that we needed against such a good team.”
It was the second time this season the black and gold had a four-game winning streak halted by the Huskies.
Junior Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla.) registered his fifth double-double of the year with 22 points and 10 rebounds. He was the only Ram in double-figures.
On the other hand, Northeastern had four players in double-digits, led by Nkem Ojougboh with 18. Chaisson Allen added 16 points, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, while Matt Janning finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“They are so tough because they stick to what they do best more than any other team we’ve played,” Smart said. “Allen and Janning are terrific guards that really won’t let you speed them up. Then you add in the mix guys like Adako and Ojougboh, who are just as good down low. You can understand why they’ve won 11 straight.”
Three-pointers from Janning and Chaisson Allen sparked a 9-4 run for Northeastern as the Huskies jumped out to a 22-16 advantage with 11:33 to play in the first half .
Junior Ed Nixon (St. Petersburg, Fla.) tallied five straight points to get the black and gold within one point, but Janning scored the final four points of the half for the Huskies to send Northeastern into the intermission with a 35-31 lead.
Two buckets by Sanders and a lay-up by junior Jamie Skeen (Charlotte, N.C.) helped the Rams run out to a 6-2 start in the second half to even the score at 37-37.
From there, Allen took over scoring 13 of his 16 points in the final 16 minutes, including three big treys while the Rams were trying to make a run.
“Allen is just as good as anyone we’ve played this year,” Smart said. “From today and then looking at the tape from other games, it just seems the guy doesn’t miss from (three-point territory).”
Nixon, junior Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla.) and sophomore Bradford Burgess (Midlothian) all had nine points in the contest.
As a team, VCU shot just 37.9 percent from the field, while the Huskies were lights out with 58.5 percent, including 60 percent in the second half.
The Rams will look to get back on track when the Tigers of Towson University come to the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday evening for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
