Richmond, VA - Junior guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) scored 24 points in 49 minutes, but Northeastern's Matt Janning countered with a game-high 26 points, including the tie-breaking three-pointer with 45 seconds left in the second overtime, as Hofstra dropped a 74-71 double-overtime decision to the second-seeded Huskies in the quarterfinal round of the CAA Tournament on Saturday night at Richmond Coliseum.
Jenkins scored 18 of his points after halftime but seventh-seeded Hofstra sank to 19-14 with the tough loss. Junior Greg Washington (Centereach, NY) chipped in 11 points while senior Cornelius Vines (Syracuse, NY) added 11 points, including a clutch three-pointer near the end of the first overtime to send the game to a second extra session.
Janning scored 10 points combined in the first and second overtimes and Chaisson Allen scored six of his 10 points after regulation to send Northeastern (20-11) into Sunday's semifinals against the winner of third-seeded William & Mary and 11th-seed James Madison, who matched up after Hofstra's game.
Freshman forward Halil Kanacevic (Staten Island, NY) added nine points in nine rebounds as a reserve, logging 40 minutes in Hofstra's longest game of the season and first overtime contest in the CAA Tournament since first participating in 2002. The Pride is 1-2 against Northeastern this season and is 1-1 in overtime games.
Jenkins kept Hofstra in it towards the end of the second overtime, hitting a bank shot in the lane to tie it at 67. But Janning followed with the last of his five-three pointers, connecting on a long-range shot from the top of the key for a 70-67, Northeastern lead with 44.8 seconds left. Nkem Ojougboh then blocked a tying three-point attempt from Washington at the other end, and Allen added three free throws to seal it. Manny Adako also finished with 13 points and five rebounds for the Huskies.
The first overtime carried as much drama as the second extra session. Vines kept Hofstra alive with his most clutch shot of the season, drilling a deep right-wing three-pointer over Janning with 10.1 seconds left to knot the score at 60 and send the contest into double overtime. Allen ended up with an open look at a three-pointer after a scramble for the loose ball, but left it way short at the buzzer.
Alwayne Bigby scored his first points of the game at an important time, hitting a clutch inside shot with almost one minute left in the first overtime for a 58-55 Northeastern lead. Allen made a pair of free throws with 18.4 seconds left to make it 60-57 before Vines put a jolt into the Hofstra bench, drilling the tying three-pointer over Janning's tight coverage.
Jenkins scored just six points before the break but hit a pair of three-pointers during an 11-4 run, erasing a six-point deficit to hand Hofstra 36-34 edge almost nine minutes into the second half.
The Pride's lead swelled to six before Janning hit a three-pointer and Kauri Black finished a layup for the three-point play to tie it at 43 at the 7:51 mark.
Jenkins scored five of Hofstra's next seven points, slashing to the basket to connect on a layup and draw two fouls. The CAA's Player of the Year connected on three of four free throws to rebuild Hofstra's lead to 52-48 with 2:20 left. Janning countered with a reverse layup on the next possession, powering past two Hofstra defenders on the baseline before getting the shot over a trailing Jenkins to put Northeastern down by a field goal at 1:23.
Janning came up with a clutch play on Hofstra's penultimate possession in regulation, stealing the ball of Jenkins' drive before taking the ball down-court. Janning worked the clock down before feeding Black for a bank shot to tie it at 52 with 4.4 seconds left. Jenkins' running off-balance shot hit off the backboard as time expired to send the game to the first overtime.
Neither team shot consistently in a close first half as the teams made just three out of 12 combined three-pointers in failing to crack 35 percent field goal shooting mark. Adako scored seven points before the break, lifting Northeastern to a 23-20 halftime lead. Kanacevic kept the Pride in striking distance, as the 6-8 forward added seven points and five rebounds coming in for Washington after he picked up two fouls 4:06 into the contest.
Washington blocked four shots and now has 203 in his three-year Hofstra career, becoming the first player in school history to reach 200 blocked shot in a career.
