p. For the third time in as many games, the Tribe can be called comeback kids.
p. With 1:26 remaining and the Tribe (8-8, 4-2) trailing 53-52, junior forward Chris Darnell rose for a short jumper in the lane, buried it and was fouled by Northeastern University’s Matt Janning: Darnell sank the free throw to extend the College’s first lead of the game at 55-53 and secure a fourth-straight CAA victory for the Tribe.
p. This string of CAA wins matches a four-game streak the College completed during the 1997-1998 season. The win also marked the third consecutive contest in which the Tribe rallied from a double-digit deficit.
p. “I told the team before the game [that] I just as soon not have a great comeback, but I’ll take it if it happens,” Head Coach Tony Shaver said.
p. The College found itself trailing by double figures for the third consecutive CAA contest, and much like its last two victories over Georgia State University and James Madison University, the Tribe played with confidence and energy to overcome the deficits.
Down 12 points at halftime, the College started the second half on a 14-4 run to cut the margin to two on a Darnell three-pointer. The Tribe sliced the deficit to one on four different occasions and tied the game at 47-47 when Darnell followed his own miss with a put-back. Just 42 seconds earlier, Darnell missed two free throws that could have knotted the game at 47, but Darnell responded with his put-back and the game-winning three-point play.
p. “I just tried to let the game come to me,” Darnell said. “I felt like I was due for a good game one of these days. It just so happened to be today.”
p. Darnell led the College with 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Junior forward Pete Stein and sophomore guard David Schneider each chipped in 10 points to spur the Tribe offense to a 33-point second half.
p. During the second half, the College shot 50 percent from the floor and committed only two turnovers, while the Huskies’ field goal percentage dropped from 53.6 to 40. The Tribe’s defense forced Northeastern into nine second-half turnovers, and senior guard Nathan Mann held the 2007 CAA Rookie of the Year Janning to zero second-half points.
p. Mann forced a turnover by deflecting Janning’s pass, then dribbled out the game’s final 4.6 seconds to ensure victory.
After the first half, a win seemed unlikely for the Tribe as the Huskies took a 12-point lead into the locker room.
p. “I thought the first half we took punches. We took one punch after another from them and didn’t respond,” Shaver said. “And I thought the second half we were terrific. Defensively, we were terrific. And our shot selection went from atrocious to good.
p. “So if we could learn to be consistent, it could be exciting.”
