For whatever reason, Virginia Commonwealth has had all kinds of trouble with Northeastern, especially at the Siegel Center.
The Rams had trouble shaking the Huskies on Saturday night as well, but took care of their home floor this time, securing a 59-56 victory before the 15th consecutive sellout.
VCU (20-5, 11-2 CAA), which won its ninth consecutive game and 17th in the past 19, kept pace with George Mason and Drexel atop the Colonial Athletic Association.
Northeastern (11-12, 7-6) had won four of the past five games with VCU, including two of the past three at the Siegel Center.
The Rams used Troy Daniels' 15 points and a 14-0 run just before halftime to take control, then weathered some poor foul shooting in the last minute.
VCU had a 57-49 lead with 1:07 remaining. The Rams, though, missed the front end of three consecutive one-and-one opportunities, allowing the Huskies to get within four.
Juvonte Reddic finally stopped the bleeding with two free throws with 29 seconds left. Jonathan Lee's 3-pointer two seconds from the end accounted for the final margin.
VCU was just 12 of 24 from the foul line.
Daniels, who came in shooting 41.6 percent on 3-pointers in conference play and was 20 for 41 in his past five games, was 5 of 10 behind the arc.
Reddic had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Lee had 16 points and Quincy Ford 14 for Northeastern.
With foul and shooting troubles mounting against Northeastern's zone in the first half, VCU went scoreless for more than six minutes and fell behind by six.
But the Rams responded with 14 unanswered points to take a 31-23 lead. Ryan Pierson's lean-in bank shot at 0:01 left VCU with a six-point lead at halftime.
Both coaches had to massage their lineups to try to protect players as fouls piled up. VCU's Bradford Burgess, Reddic and Weber each were whistled for two fouls. Burgess picked up one on a technical, apparently for reaching across the end line on an inbounds pass.
Northeastern's Lee, Ford, Alwayne Bigby and Reggie Spencer had two fouls apiece.
Down 23-17, the Rams were just 7 of 16 and 1 of 6 from the foul line. A dunk by D.J. Haley off a feed from Daniels and Burgess' lay-in after getting behind the defense on cut the deficit to two.
VCU's defensive pressure went up a notch from there. With the Rams scrambling and bodies hitting the floor, the Huskies turned the ball over four times.
Treveon Graham's two free throws tied the game with just under three minutes remaining, and Rob Bandenberg put the Rams ahead with a pair of foul shots after Graham and Daniels forced a loose ball on the inbounds pass.
Daniels nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to finish the spurt.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement