Joel Smith made 5 of 8 shots en route to 14 points for Northeastern, which has won nine of its last 10 games after starting the season 5-7.

Drexel (9-13, 5-5) cut a six-point deficit to one, 43-42, on a Derrick Thomas 3-pointer with 7 minutes left. But Northeastern answered with eight straight points to take a 51-42 lead with 3:16 showing.

The Huskies (14-8, 9-1), who hit 21 of 23 free throws, scores 12 of their last 16 points at the charity stripe.

Drexel, whose shortest starter is 6-foot-4, posted a 35-25 rebounding advantage but shot just 35.2 percent (19 of 54), compared to 42.5 percent (17 of 40) for Northeastern.

Dartaye Ruffin led Drexel with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

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