BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Shawn Occeus (Boynton Beach, Fla.) led four players in double figures as the Northeastern University men's basketball team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 83-49, Sunday afternoon at historic Matthews Arena.
The Huskies improve to 2-0 on the season while the game is considered an exhibition contest for the Leopards, who open the 2017-18 campaign on Wednesday night at Framingham State.
Northeastern scored the first five points of the game on a three from senior Devon Begley (Pearland, Texas) and a dunk from junior Anthony Green (Quincy, Mass.). Senior Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) scored the next four points, and, after a three from Begley, made it 8-6 with his third jumper of the half.
The Huskies went on a 13-2 run before a sophomore Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) ended the run with a layup with 11:06 left in the half to make it 21-10. A three from Ganley trimmed the deficit to 25-17 and came during a stretch of nearly eight minutes where Wentworth held the hosts without a field goal.
Northeastern closed out the half on a 16-4 run and led, 41-21 at the break. The Huskies shot 43.3 percent in the opening stanza while the Leopards shot 35.3 percent.
The Huskies opened the second half on an 8-2 run, thanks to four points apiece from Green and junior Vasa Pusica (Belgrade, Serbia). Sophomore Colin Mulvaney (Jenkintown, Pa.) ended the run with a three pointer with 17:51 remaining and Ganley followed with a three of his own to make it 49-29 with 16:36 left.
Five straight Northeastern points extended the lead to 54-29 before senior Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) scored Wentworth's next three points, making it 54-32 with 15:32 left in the game. The Huskies opened the lead to 29 (68-39) on a four-point play from Occeus with 7:14 remaining and held the Black & Gold scoreless over a span of 4:38 late in the game.
Sophomore Donnell Grisham (Maplewood, Minn.) had 11 points and seven rebounds with Begley and sophomore Bolden Brace (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scoring 10 apiece in the win. Puscia finished with nine points, four assists, and four steals.
Ganley led all scorers with 17 points as he connected on 7-of-15 shots from the floor, including going 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Azums finished with eight points and six rebounds and Knollmeyer added seven points.
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