Reece Beekman Wills Virginia to Escape With 56-54 Win Over Northeastern

Beekman scored a career-high 21 points, including the game-winner with five seconds remaining

The recipe was there for a letdown. Coming off of the 10-day exam break, Virginia's rustiness showed in many ways. UVA went 2/14 from beyond the arc, gave up an uncharacteristic amount of easy layups, and missed eight free throws, including an almost unbelievable three air-balled free throw attempts. 

But despite trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, Virginia found a way to claw back into the game. Or more specifically, Reece Beekman decided that he wasn't going to let his team lose. 

Beekman scored a career-high 21 points, including four points in the final minute to tie the game and then take the lead. His tough contested shot off the glass with just five seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner as Virginia (9-1) escaped with a nail-biting 56-54 victory over Northeastern (4-7) on Saturday night at John Paul Jones Arena. 

The Cavaliers looked lethargic from the jump, missing 10 of their first 13 shots and watching as the visiting Huskies raced out to a 16-4 lead. Over the course of the first half, UVA tightened the screws on its defense and at one point, held Northeastern scoreless for more than five minutes, allowing the Cavaliers to go on a 16-2 run, including 11-straight points to briefly take the lead. 

As they would do throughout the entire game, though, the Huskies punched right back, going on a 9-0 run and taking a 30-24 lead into the halftime break. Northeastern shot 48.1% from the floor, outscored Virginia 16-14 in the paint, and won the rebounding battle 21-12 in the first half. The only saving grace for UVA, which shot 38% from the floor, 0/3 from three, and 4/9 from the free throw line in the first half, was 11 points off of 10 Northeastern turnovers and 10 first-half points for Reece Beekman. 

The Huskies stormed out of the gates in the second half, scoring seven-straight in the first two minutes to build their largest lead of the game at 37-24. From there, Virginia had to scratch and claw to get back into the game and managed to do so by finally creating some open looks for Isaac McKneely, who had been kept in a straight-jacket by Northeastern's defense for most of the game. McKneely got two open looks from three in the second half and drained them both to help the Cavaliers erase the deficit and take the lead. After McKneely's second three, Beekman found Ryan Dunn for an alley-oop dunk and Virginia threatened to take control of the game, seizing a three-point lead and all momentum in the game. 

But Northeastern responded again, beginning a back-and-forth sequence that lasted the final five minutes of the game, with neither team leading by more than two points. Layups from Joe Pridgen and Chris Doherty put the Huskies once again on the cusp of the upset, leading 54-52 entering the final minute of play. 

Reece Beekman took the game into his own hands, drawing a foul and calmly making both free throws to tie the game with 52 seconds left. Jake Groves made a great defensive play to block Doherty's attempt at a go-ahead basket in the paint, giving the Cavaliers a chance to win the game. 

Beekman did just that, driving down the right side of the lane, absorbing a great deal of contact, and hitting a shot off the glass with five seconds remaining. Northeastern's inbound pass after a timeout sailed out of bounds and UVA held on for the two-point victory.

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of Virginia's win over Northeastern here.

Virginia was outrebounded 35-28 and points in the paint were dead even at 32-32. UVA shot 14% from three-point range, making only two triples, and 10/18 (55.6%) from the free throw line. It was far from pretty, but the Cavaliers found a way to win on a day where they played far from their best game. 

Up next, Virginia (9-1) plays its first true road game of the season at Memphis on Tuesday at 7pm on ESPN2. 

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