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GAME NOTES: The Northeastern Huskies begin the final week of the regular season fighting for top billing in the Colonial Athletic Association, as they contend with the Hofstra Pride at Matthews Arena in Boston this evening.

The Huskies, who are tied with Old Dominion atop the conference standings with a record of 13-3 entering the week, took a break from CAA play on Saturday to tangle with Louisiana Tech in a BracketBusters meeting. Unfortunately for the home team, the Bulldogs came out on top with a late game-winning basket, 70-67. The setback was the second in the last three outings for a Northeastern program that has come a long way from being just 2-7 to start 2009-10.

As for the Pride, they are just now beginning to hit their stride with four straight wins and seven in the last eight outings overall. On Saturday afternoon, Hofstra squared off against Rider and handed the Broncs a 92-89 overtime setback, the first overtime game of the season for the Pride.

The Huskies won the first meeting of the season earlier this month with a 75-55 romp over Hofstra on the road, which means the Pride now own a 14-11 advantage in the all-time series. Hofstra had as many turnovers (19) as it did field goals in that contest, hitting a mere 31.7 percent shots from the floor.

Managing to get the meeting with Rider into overtime even after shooting just 1-of-12 behind the three-point line in the second half was quite a feat, while holding onto the lead in the bonus session was also impressive. Charles Jenkins scored 31 points to lead five players in double figures, while Nathaniel Lester tallied 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench before fouling out. Chaz Williams and Greg Washington both delivered 12 points, the latter accounting for 11 rebounds and eight blocked shots as well, while Cornelius Vines dropped in 10 points before he picked up his fifth personal foul. Jenkins, who has scored at least 30 points in three of the last four outings, remains the lone double-digit scorer for the group with his 20.1 ppg. Putting forth a solid effort at both ends of the floor, Jenkins also has 108 assists and 52 steals to his credit for a team that is shooting just 40.9 percent from the floor at the moment. Defensively, Hofstra has held opponents to only 39.3 percent accuracy from the field and 28.6 percent beyond the arc.

The challenge for the Huskies heading into their meeting with visiting Louisiana Tech over the weekend was figuring out how they were going to control the Bulldogs in the paint, but as it turned out the two squads matched each other on the glass at both ends of the floor. Northeastern's Nkem Ojougboh registered a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in fact, while Matt Janning accounted for 19 points and seven assists. Manny Adako added 14 points and Chaisson Allen chipped in with 11 points, six boards and six assists as he played a complete game in the three-point loss. Janning and Allen are the type of players who can exploit opponents both inside and outside whenever the need, the former leading the team in scoring with his 15.1 ppg and the latter delivering on 14.4 ppg. Between the two they've made good on 109 three-point shots, the rest of the unit just 46 through 28 games. Allen, who is shooting almost as well beyond the arc (.441) as he is from the floor (.464), has also handed out 107 assists and clears almost five rebounds per game, making him a tough matchup for most defenders.

Northeastern has so much riding on these last couple of games that they cannot take anything for granted. However, the Huskies have to be careful not to place too much pressure on themselves as they try to close the regular season strong.