WASHINGTON (Interstat) — In a season defined by struggles, the Northeastern Huskies found a rare and decisive rhythm on Friday afternoon, building an insurmountable first-half lead and cruising to an 88-72 victory over North Carolina A&T in a Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament opening-round game at CareFirst Arena.

The Huskies, who entered the contest with the worst record in the conference at 6-23, played with a precision and confidence absent for much of the winter, particularly in a dominant opening period. They held the Aggies to a frigid 24 points in the first half, racing to a 40-24 lead at intermission that they would never seriously threaten.

The most important part of the game was unquestionably that first-half defensive clinic by Northeastern. North Carolina A&T, which came in as a slight one-point favorite, was utterly stifled. The Aggies committed 10 turnovers in the half, shot poorly from the field and saw several attempts emphatically rejected. Northeastern’s active hands and disciplined positioning generated steals and disrupted any offensive flow North Carolina A&T tried to establish. This defensive pressure directly fueled the Huskies’ transition game and allowed them to build a 16-point cushion that provided a critical psychological and tactical buffer for the entire second half.

While the Aggies, who finished their season at 11-19, showed more life after halftime, doubling their first-half output with 48 points, they could never cut the deficit to single digits. Every push was met with a timely response from the Huskies’ balanced attack.

Northeastern was led by the backcourt duo of Mike Loughnane and Xavier Abreu, who each scored 18 points. Loughnane, a guard from Quincy, Massachusetts, added six assists in 39 minutes, orchestrating the offense. Abreu, from Lynn, Massachusetts, provided a massive spark off the bench, hitting key shots and contributing three assists in just 16 minutes of play.

William Kermoury, a guard from Stockholm, Sweden, added 14 points, and JB Frankel of New York chipped in 11. The Huskies’ interior was anchored by Petar Pinter of Niksic, Montenegro, who scored eight points, and Ty Francis of Brooklyn, who added nine points and a block.

For North Carolina A&T, Lewis Walker of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, led all scorers with 19 points. Zamoku Weluche-Ume of London, England, recorded 15 points and three blocks, while Trent Middleton of Philadelphia also scored 15 points and dished out four assists.

The game’s outcome defied the pregame metrics, which gave North Carolina A&T a narrow 50.6 percent probability to win. The combined score of 160 points also went under the betting over/under line of 155.5.

The victory snaps a three-game losing streak for Northeastern and provides a measure of redemption after a difficult regular season. It also avenges one of their closer losses from earlier in the conference schedule. The Huskies now advance to face Drexel in a tournament quarterfinal on Saturday. The two teams split their regular-season meetings, with each winning on the other’s home court.

The game was played before a sparse crowd of 1,240 at the neutral site. For Northeastern, the win offers a fresh start in a tournament setting and a chance to extend a season that just hours earlier seemed destined for a quiet conclusion.