University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Northeastern (Colonial Classic)
Freeman & Life Lead UMass Past Northeastern, 79-56
November 19, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2006
PITTSBURGH - The inside-outside combination of seniors Rashaun Freeman and James Life proved to be lethal all afternoon as UMass beat the Huskies, 79-56 in the Minutemen's final game of the three-game Colonial Classic at Pittsburgh. Freeman finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Life had 19 points. UMass moved to 3-1 overall while the Huskies remain winless at 0-4.
UMass busted open the game in the second half. The Minutemen, who play 10 players in their normal rotation simply outmanned the Huskies, who had just seven scholarship players dressed. In the second half, Freeman and Life combined for 23 of UMass' 43 points. Gary Forbes also heated up as he tallied seven of his 13 in the game.
Northeastern shot just 18 percent (5-of-28) in the second half as UMass played great defense. The Huskies went 9:25 without a field goal midway through the second half. The Minutemen hit the glass hard. After Northeastern grabbed 15 of the game's first 25 rebounds, UMass corralled 35 of the next 55 and finished with a +10 rebound margin. Stephane Lasme grabbed 11 rebounds to give him 34 in the tournament.
The second half opened with the Minutemen pounding the ball inside to Freeman as UMass had an 18-4 run bridging the halves to take a lead as large as 46-33 with 17:05 left in the game. The senior had eight of the 18 points in the run.
UMass scored eight of the final 11 points of the half and held Northeastern without a basket 6:49 late in the half before Matt Janning made a 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the stanza making it 36-32 at intermission.
The Minutemen took the lead at 30-29 on a Freeman lay-up with 3:36 left in the first. UMass slowly chipped away at the Huskies and tied the game at 28-28 on a James Life 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 4:28 in the half.
The Huskies continued their hot shooting in the first half as they took a 26-19 lead with 8:01 left after making three straight 3-pointers. The Huskies made five of their first eight treys in the game.
Northeastern jumped out early to a 14-8 lead just 4:35 into the game as Matt Janning canned two 3-pointers and eight total points early.
