NOTEBOOK: Crimson Front Line Stands Strong

With 40 seconds left in the contest and 15 points already to his name, six-foot-eight Northeastern forward Scott Eatherton put his head down and drove into the paint, pushing Harvard sophomore Evan Cummins towards the basket. Just as he had done all game long, Eatherton came up strong with his right hand for the layup attempt.

But this time Cummins was there and adjusted perfectly, jumping straight up before swatting the Husky’s leading scorer’s shot out of bounds.

Looking towards his bench, the Crimson forward pumped his fists in celebration while Eatherton was left picking himself off the floor.

“We certainly felt that [the Huskies] were going to go inside, being a team that had a kid, Eatherton, [who] is a tough kid up front,” Amaker said. “We certainly knew we needed to play well in the post defensively, so we weren’t surprised at that.”

And in what evolved into a war of attrition down low, the Harvard frontline emerged battered, but victorious.

Although Eatherton met his season averages with 17 points and 11 boards—and the three Crimson forwards guarding him were whistled for 11 fouls on the night—he was met with physicality each time he touched the ball. And though Eatherton managed to make seven field goals, the tag-team trio of forwards Steve Moundou-Missi, Jonah Travis, and Cummins didn’t let him get many buckets without a challenge at the rim.

COMING HOME

Cummins’ record breaking 10 point, six block performance in 15 minutes off the bench against TCU last weekend earned him some more floor time in the Crimson’s return to Massachusetts.

“Evan played well for us in Alaska,” Amaker said. “It’s nice as a coach when you see kids make the breakthrough, make the jump, make the strides. You can see the confidence growing.”

With juniors Moundou-Missi and Travis in foul trouble on Wednesday night, Amaker pinned the tough assignment of guarding Eatherton on the sophomore.

And in the Crimson’s first tilt in a Boston area arena since Nov. 20, the Westborough, Mass. native did not disappoint, turning in another solid effort with 10 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.

“He’s bouncy, he’s active and blocking shots, and he has a really good feel for what we want to do on the offensive end,” Amaker said. “Certainly, it was a needed effort for our team here this evening.”

Though this two-game stretch isn’t a large sample size, efficiency is becoming the forward’s middle name. After shooting four-of-six from the field against TCU, he shot four-of-five at Matthews Arena.

More importantly in this contest, Cummins managed to check Eatherton on defense down the stretch, finishing off the night with the exclamation point block.

HACK-A-SCOTT

Coming into the home game, Eatherton was averaging 16.3 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Though he scored 17 against Harvard and notched his sixth double-double of the season, he could’ve tallied at least a few more points.

A near-70 percent free throw shooter prior to Wednesday’s matchup, Eatherton finished 3-of-11 at the charity stripe in the contest. Midway through the first half, he air-balled one foul-attempt and walked back on defense, muttering to himself.

Eight free-throws missed, eight-point loss.

Though Eatherton was the biggest culprit, both squads had their woes at the line. Harvard shot 17-of-27, while Northeastern was 12-of-23 in its worst free-throw shooting outing of the year.

“Both teams shot poorly from the foul line, which could’ve been a big difference,” Amaker said.

EIGHT IN THE CHAMBER

Though the Crimson missed more free throws than it would’ve liked, the team shot an efficient 26-of-46 from the field, led by sophomore point guard Siyani Chambers.

While the Golden Valley, Minn. native took only six shots on the night, his second fewest on the season, he also tied his season high with eight assists.

The six-footer got his teammates involved all evening, helping junior guard Wesley Saunders and senior forward Kyle Casey score 17 points apiece on over 50 percent shooting.

Perhaps Chambers’ best feed came as he weaved through the Husky defense with the first half clock winding down. Faking an overhead pass, Chambers put some English on a bounce pass to a cutting Saunders, who threw down a two-handed jam at the buzzer.

“I think Siyani does a great job getting us into our sets,” Saunders said. “[He keeps] us organized when it [gets] tough.”