With 40 seconds left in the contest and 15 points already to his name, six-foot-eight Northeastern forward Scott Eatherton put his head down and drove into the paint, pushing Harvard sophomore Evan Cummins towards the basket. Just as he had done all game long, Eatherton came up strong with his right hand for the layup attempt.

But this time Cummins was there and adjusted perfectly, jumping straight up before swatting the Husky’s leading scorer’s shot out of bounds.

Looking towards his bench, the Crimson forward pumped his fists in celebration while Eatherton was left picking himself off the floor.

“We certainly felt that [the Huskies] were going to go inside, being a team that had a kid, Eatherton, [who] is a tough kid up front,” Amaker said. “We certainly knew we needed to play well in the post defensively, so we weren’t surprised at that.”

And in what evolved into a war of attrition down low, the Harvard frontline emerged battered, but victorious.

Although Eatherton met his season averages with 17 points and 11 boards—and the three Crimson forwards guarding him were whistled for 11 fouls on the night—he was met with physicality each time he touched the ball. And though Eatherton managed to make seven field goals, the tag-team trio of forwards Steve Moundou-Missi, Jonah Travis, and Cummins didn’t let him get many buckets without a challenge at the rim.

COMING HOME

Cummins’ record breaking 10 point, six block performance in 15 minutes off the bench against TCU last weekend earned him some more floor time in the Crimson’s return to Massachusetts.

“Evan played well for us in Alaska,” Amaker said. “It’s nice as a coach when you see kids make the breakthrough, make the jump, make the strides. You can see the confidence growing.”

With juniors Moundou-Missi and Travis in foul trouble on Wednesday night, Amaker pinned the tough assignment of guarding Eatherton on the sophomore.

And in the Crimson’s first tilt in a Boston area arena since Nov. 20, the Westborough, Mass. native did not disappoint, turning in another solid effort with 10 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.

“He’s bouncy, he’s active and blocking shots, and he has a really good feel for what we want to do on the offensive end,” Amaker said. “Certainly, it was a needed effort for our team here this evening.”

Though this two-game stretch isn’t a large sample size, efficiency is becoming the forward’s middle name. After shooting four-of-six from the field against TCU, he shot four-of-five at Matthews Arena.

More importantly in this contest, Cummins managed to check Eatherton on defense down the stretch, finishing off the night with the exclamation point block.

HACK-A-SCOTT