Northeastern held off a vicious late charge by William & Mary to win the CAA title game 72-61, and the Huskies will dance for the first time since 1991.
Northeastern wins CAA basketball tournament 2015: Huskies dancing for first time in 24 years
Northeastern will represent the CAA in the NCAA Tournament, and one of the most futile teams in college hoops remains futile.
Northeastern went up 22 points with 3:41 to go, but the Tribe managed to score 16 unanswered to cut the lead to six with 36 seconds to go. But the lead was too large with too little time and the run was little more than a scare.
It’s heartbreak for the Tribe: William & Mary will miss the NCAA Tournament for a 77th year, one of only five teams in Division I since the inception of the tournament never to have made it. This was the second straight year they got within a game of the tourney only to fall short, after losing the title game in overtime last year.
The Huskies couldn’t miss -- Quincy Ford went 4-of-5 from three, Caleb Donnelly went 4-of-6, and the team shot 12-of-20 from deep in total. Add less-than-ideal nights from William & Mary’s stars -- Marcus Thornton and Omar Prewitt combined for 24 the day after combining for 70 points -- and Northeastern was able to get up big.
Northeastern came out firing, taking an early 10-0 lead off of some W&M miscues and eight quick points from Ford. The Tribe bounced back quickly to make the score 15-15, but more hot shooting from the Huskies let them enter the halftime break up 36-26.
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