HAMILTON – Northeastern scored the final six points over the last 1:04 to come back and beat Colgate 68-65 in the Raiders' home opener Friday at Cotterell Court.
Colgate led 65-62 when Sam Wright sank two free throws with 1:28 left in regulation. A missed layup and a turnover gave the visitors the upper hand with Colgate already in foul trouble. Youri Fritz's driving lay-in with 19 seconds left gave the Huskies the lead for good, 66-65.
Brady Cummins' shot on Colgate's last gasp was stuffed for a jump ball in Northeastern's favor. Two free throws from Xavier Abreu made it a three-point game, and Kyle Carlesimo's half-court heave fell short to seal the 68-65 decision for Northeastern.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colgate had just two points five minutes into the game. Northeastern started 4-for-4 from the field and landed a trey from Miles Newton to open an 11-2 lead at the first media timeout. After the hot start the Huskies missed their next seven shots and the Raiders raced on a 7-0 run.
Ben Tweedy sent a bounce pass through traffic on the fastbreak for a Cooper Wright layup cutting the deficit to 11-9 at the 12-minutes mark of the opening half. The Raiders took their first lead with 7:14 left in the half – 16-15 on a silky cross-over from Jalen Cox.
Colgate led by as many as eight points in the first half and that was the halftime margin. A two-handed slam by C. Wright followed by a pair of layups from Josh Ahayere and Wright sent the Raiders to the locker room leading 35-27.
Northeastern chipped away and eventually took the lead after back-to-back turnovers led to a pair of runouts. Free throws from Xander Alarie gave the visitors a 42-41 lead with 12:11 showing. Ahayere's floater pushed Colgate back in front 45-44 and that started the second-half teetering.
There were seven lead changes in the second half and Northeastern never led by more than three – which was the final winning margin. Colgate led by eight points twice in the late stages: 61-53 with 4:33 remaining and 63-55 after Andrew Alekseyenko's floater with 3:06 remaining.
In a tough offensive night for both teams, Colgate shot 40.6 percent from the field and a measly 4-of-19 from behind the arc – with all four trifectas by Carlesimo. Northeastern shot 39 percent and 17.4 percent from behind the arc.
Carlesimo and S. Wright led the Raiders with 16 points apiece -- and they were Colgate's only two double-figure scorers. The 16 points were a Colgate career high for Carlesimo, and it's S. Wright's second consecutive game in double figures as the starting center.
UP NEXT
Colgate (0-2) will host Drexel next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
