VESTAL, N.Y. – Marcus Barnes had 27 points, Shawn James had 21, and Jose Juan Barea had 20 points and 11 assists to lead Northeastern past Maine 86-73 in the semifinals of the America East Conference tournament on Sunday.
The victory sends second-seeded Northeastern (21-8) into the conference championship on Saturday at top-seeded Vermont (23-6), which defeated Binghamton 76-65 in Sunday’s other semifinal.
Barea, who had a career-high 41 points Saturday night in Northeastern’s 90-79 quarterfinal victory over Stony Brook, also had eight rebounds, and Bobby Kelly had 10 points.
Kevin Reed, who was 7-for-13 on 3-pointers, had 28 points, Joe Campbell had 15 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out, and Ernest Turner had 10 points for Maine (14-15). The Black Bears stayed in the game until the final minutes by going 13-for-30 on 3-pointers.
The Huskies, who forced 19 turnovers and committed only eight, appeared to take control midway through the first half. After Campbell hit a layup to give Maine a 22-21 lead with 9:23 left, Barnes hit a 3 to start a 15-1 run. Northeastern extended the lead to 45-25 in the final minute of the half on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Barnes.
After Barea lofted assists on consecutive fast-break alley-oop baskets by James and Kelly to put the Huskies up 52-31 with 16:25 left, the Black Bears fought back.
Just over nine minutes later it was a one-point game as Reed took over. He drained six of his 3s and and Jason Hight hit another to move Maine within 63-62 with 7:03 to go.
After a timeout, Northeastern rallied right back with an 11-0 run, holding the Black Bears to just one basket – a 3 by Campbell – until the final minute.
Barnes began the closing surge with a driving layup and James blocked two shots by Turner to key the surge. James hit a driving layup off the glass with 1:50 to go to give Northeastern an insurmountable 78-65 lead.
Maine women top seed
ORONO – The Maine women coasted to a 63-55 triumph Saturday over Maryland-Baltimore County to claim the No. 1 seed in next weekend’s America East tournament.
Despite their seeding, the Black Bears (20-8) will not be rewarded with home-court advantage. All four rounds will be played in Hartford, Conn.
Maine will face the winner of Boston University and Stony Brook in the quarterfinals Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.
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