Northeast boys hoop tops Tech

LYNN – Northeast Regional hasn’t had much success against Tech in boys basketball in recent years, but the drought ended with a 65-46 win over the Tigers Tuesday at Tech.Click here for a photo gallery.”I don’t think Northeast has beaten this team in years,” Northeast coach Keith Leavitt said.The Golden Knights are off to a strong start with an 8-3 overall record and a 6-0 record in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small. Tech, which plays in the CAC Large, is struggling at 3-10.”Northeast is the top team in the small,” Tech coach Marvin Avery said. “We knew about their big kid (Terrence McKoy). We knew we would have to contain him down low.”The Golden Knights came at the Tigers from a couple of different directions. McKoy, who finished with 21 points, was a force in the paint and guard Namir Islamovic was a threat from everywhere. He led all scorers with 24 points.”A big guy like that (McKoy) makes things a lot easier for the guards,” Avery said.Islamovic was the Tigers’ biggest problem in the early going. He scored nine points in the first four minutes of the game, with McKoy getting the other basket, to give Northeast a quick 11-0 lead.The Tigers found themselves chasing Northeast all night. They made a little headway early in the second half with a six-point run to close the gap to 17-14, but that was as close as they would get the entire game.McKoy took over in the paint that quarter, scoring 10 points to help Northeast to a comfortable 32-17 lead at the half. It looked like the Golden Knights were going to run away with it, but Tech had no intention of rolling over.The Tigers, trailing by 36-18, went on an 18-4 run midway through the third quarter to close the gap to 40-36 with 3:59 left in the quarter.”Basketball is a game of runs,” Avery said, adding that Northeast found a way to slam on the brakes every time Tech built up a head of steam.”We had a little momentum going, but they picked up on our weaknesses,” Avery said.Mangala Mbangu was a key factor in keeping Tech within striking distance most of the way. He had 18 points, including back-to-back threes with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Shaiheem Mazil (10 points) also had a couple of clutch buckets during the Tigers’ 18-4 run.Tech got to within four points before the pendulum started swinging Northeast’s way. The Golden Knights scored the final nine points of the third quarter to once again open up some breathing room. They continued to roll in the fourth quarter, scoring the first six points to take what would be an insurmountable 55-36 lead. Islamovic and McKoy accounted for all but four of Northeast’s 15 fourth-quarter points.Kennedy Gomes had nine points for the Tigers, who were without freshman Michael Amaya due to illness. Amaya had been stepping up in recent games to help fill some holes left in the lineup due to the loss of a couple of players. Lynwood Moore and Justin Reece are no longer on the team and Devon Heard has two games left to sit out as a result of an MIAA rules infraction. Avery also sat Shawn Osario for last night’s game.Tech plays Greater Lowell on Friday.Joyce Erekson can be reached at [email protected].