Cowboys Drop CBI First Rounder to Northeastern
box score

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Matt Janning scored 20 points and Chaisson Allen added 16 points and six assists as the Northeastern men's basketball team secured a 64-62 win over Wyoming in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational, Tuesday night at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo.

The Huskies, who won their first postseason game since 1984, will advance to play UTEP in the quarterfinals next Monday night. The Huskies are now 19-12 on the season. Wyoming drops to 19-14. Northeastern was also just the 27th non-conference team to ever win at Arena-Auditorium in its 27-year history.

The Huskies came out strong in the game as Eugene Spates opened the scoring with a three-pointer. His second three of the half put the Huskies up 12-3 at 13:37. Meanwhile, the NU defense held the high-scoring Cowboys without a field goal until A.J. Davis' jumper at 12:42.

After Wyoming got within six, 14-8, the Huskies expanded their first-half lead to 13 with a 7-0 run. Nkem Ojougboh got the run started with a pair of free throws. Janning then had a steal and fastbreak layup. On the next possession, Ojougboh made a kick-out pass to Spates, who drilled another three to put NU up 21-8 with 8:46 remaining.

However, fatigue and fouls slowed the Huskies down and gave Wyoming a chance to get back in it. With the Huskies struggling with the altitude and Chaisson Allen, Vinny Lima and Spates all in foul trouble, the Cowboys went on a 12-0 run to come within one, 27-26. Afam Muojeke's three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor were the key buckets.

However, the Huskies persevered and went into halftime with a lead. Matt Smith drained a three-pointer to snap NU's scoreless streak and then after Adam Waddell's putback for Wyoming, Janning beat the buzzer with a turnaround leaner to send NU to the locker room with a 32-28 advantage.

At the start of the second half, Janning got the Huskies rolling again with a three-pointer and then a fadeaway jumper in the lane to put NU back up seven, 37-30. The Huskies then led 45-40 when the Cowboys answered with a run to grab their first lead of the game. Davis was awarded two points on goaltending, then Waddell made an inside layup to cut the NU lead to one. Wyoming went up 46-45 on Muojeke's free throws at 10:55. Ojougboh then hit a layup at 10:13, but Tyson Johnson answered with a layup at 9:57 for a 48-47 Wyoming lead.

That was Wyoming's last lead though as Allen responded with a three-pointer at 9:19 for a 50-48 lead. Ewing tied it with a leaning jumper in the paint, but Allen came up large again with another trey at 7:37 and then again at 6:59 to give the Huskies a six-point lead, 56-50.

The Huskies then went up eight, 64-56, with just 26 seconds left, but things got dicey at the end. Janning fouled Ewing on a three-point attempt, and Ewing made all three free throws to cut the deficit to five. Janning then was charged with an offensive foul on the inbound play. After a pair of Wyoming three-point misses, Smith came up with a loose ball, but stepped out of bounds. Wyoming got the ball to Ewing, who drilled a three to cut NU's lead to two, 64-62, with 0.9 seconds left. However, the Huskies were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

The Husky defense did an excellent job containing a Wyoming offense that came into the game averaging 75 points and shooting 46 percent from the field. Wyoming was held to 40.4 percent shooting, and one of its leading scorers, Sean Ogirri, was held scoreless. Ewing led the Cowboys with a game-high 22 points.

Northeastern forced 15 turnovers that led to 20 points. Offensively, four players scored in double figures. To go with Janning's 20 and Allen's 16, Ojougboh had 11 and Spates had 10.

The Huskies look for another postseason victory next Monday in the quarterfinals against UTEP at a site to be determined.