BOSTON, MASS. – The William & Mary men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker at Northeastern, 69-67, on Saturday evening at Matthews Arena. Sophomore Matt Milon's potential game-winning 3-pointer rattled out with nine second remaining, and the Huskies' Vasa Puscia scored on a driving lay-up at the buzzer to give the home team the victory.
 
The Huskies (19-9, 12-4) hit their first five shots and opened up a 15-5 lead five minutes into the contest behind an 11-0 run. W&M (16-11, 9-7 CAA) took its first lead at 5-4 on a Nathan Knight old-fashion 3-point play less than two minutes into the game. Maxime Boursiquot led the spurt, scoring six of the 11 NU points, including back-to-back lay-ups to push the lead to 10.
 
The Green and Gold used a 9-0 run to pull even at 19 on a Connor Burchfield 3-pointers with 10:33 left in the opening half, but seven-straight Northeastern points pushed the lead back to eight. Puscia tallied the final five of the spurt to extended the lead to 33-25 at the 6:23 mark. He went to the bench with three fouls a minute later, and W&M closed to within three at the break, 37-34, on a Milon triple with 26 seconds left in the half.
 
After a trio of Justin Pierce free throws pulled the Tribe even at 37 out of the locker room, Northeastern hit three-straight 3-pointers. Puscia knocked down the final of the trio, four minutes into the second frame to extend the Huskies' lead to nine, 46-37.
 
Milon sparked a 10-0 Tribe run as the Green and Gold flipped a six-point deficit, 54-48, into a four-point lead, 58-54. Milon's 3-pointer at the 7:34 mark gave W&M a 56-54 advantage, before Paul Rowley's jumper with a foot on the 3-point line pushed the margin to four. The Huskies knocked down four-straight free throws to draw even and set up the back-and-forth finish.
 
Individual Player Spotlight
Sophomore Matt Milon led the Tribe with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Classmates Nathan Knight and Justin Pierce tallied 14 and 13 points, respectively. Knight was 6-of-9 from the floor and had six rebounds, while Pierce topped the Green and Gold with seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Vasa Pusica led Northeastern with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, to go with six assists. Maxime Boursiquot tallied a season-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
 
Inside the Numbers
- W&M shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) in the first half and finished the game at 52.1 percent (25-of-48). On the other side, the Huskies connected at a 53.3-percent (24-of-45) clip for the contest.
 
- The Tribe turned the ball over 14 times, but just four in the second half. Unfortunately, Northeastern turned those W&M miscues into 16 points.
 
- The Green and Gold held a 26-21 advantage on the glass and turned five offensive rebounds into a 9-2 advantage in second-chance points.
 
- W&M shot 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free throw line, but was an uncharacteristic 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns home for its final two regular season contests, welcoming UNCW to Williamsburg on Thursday, Feb. 22, and Charleston on Saturday, Feb. 24. The W&M-UNCW tilt is set for a 7 p.m. tip, while the Tribe-Cougar match-up will mark Senior Day for the Green and Gold and start at 2 p.m.
 
Both games will be streamed online at Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet. Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio is also available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.
 
The final Chesapeake Bank Tony Shaver Show is set for Monday night, Feb. 19, from Paul's Deli in Williamsburg. The weekly show begins on-site at 6:30 p.m., with the live interview airing from 7-7:30 p.m.  Longtime Tribe play-by-play announcer Jay Colley will host the broadcast from Paul's Deli at 761 Scotland Street in Williamsburg. The Chesapeake Bank Tony Shaver Show can be heard over the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network at 92.3 FM The Tide and 107.9 Bach FM. It will be streamed online at TribeAthletics.com as well.