KENT, Ohio -- Vasa Pusica scored 12 of his 21 points from the free throw line and Tomas Murphy and Bolden Brace each added 14 points off the bench as Northeastern won its fifth straight, knocking off Kent State, 81-69 on Monday night.

The Huskies will close out the nonconference portion of their schedule Wednesday at St. Bonaventure.

Kent State (5-6) opened the game on an 11-4 run, but Northeastern battled back to take the lead with an eight-point run by Shawn Occeus, who knocked down a pair of free throws, then converted back-to-back 3-point plays.

Occeus finished with 16 points for the Huskies (7-4), who shot 26 of 46 from the field (56.5 percent), including 9 of 23 from deep, and were 20 of 23 from the line.

Jaylin Walker and Kevin Zabo each had 18 points for Kent State, which shot 26 of 51 from the field (51 percent).