Take a bow

Twenty minutes.

That’s what separated the Boston University men’s basketball team from a spot in the championship series of the College Basketball Invitational against Saint Louis University next week.

Heading into the locker room at halftime Wednesday night, BU (21-14) held a one-point lead, 43-42, over Virginia Commonwealth University (25-9), which had suffered its only home loss of the season at the hands of Northeastern University back on Jan. 4.

Out of the break, the following ensued:

Missed BU jumper. VCU layup. Missed BU 3-pointer. Two made VCU free throws. Two missed BU free throws. VCU layup. Missed BU 3-pointer. Missed BU layup. Made VCU 3-pointer.

In the blink of an eye, VCU had scored the first nine points of the second half to push its cushion to eight, 51-43, with 16:31 left in the contest.

Aided by a blistering 50 percent shooting performance from the field in the second session, the Rams never looked back, putting an end to the Terriers’ season last night by defeating them, 88-75, in the semifinal round of the CBI before a crowd of 3,352 at the Verizon Wireless Center in Richmond, Va.

“I thought we battled,” said BU coach Patrick Chambers. “We had a tired bunch. VCU did a great job, they wore us down. We had rubber legs in the first ten minutes of the second half. VCU shot the ball better than I’ve ever seen them shoot. I give them a lot of credit. They played 11 guys, have depth and they made shots. They’re a very good team.”

Sophomore forward Jake O’Brien led the Terriers with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and junior forward John Holland added 14 points. Sophomore center Jeff Pelage grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds.

The Rams were paced by their big three &- junior forward Larry Sanders, junior guard Joey Rodriguez and sophomore guard Bradford Burgess &- who combined for 57 of VCU’s 88 points.

“They wore us down with their depth,” Chambers said. “We had the Morehead State game [on Monday], playing in overtime and then traveling. I’m not making excuses for my guys, but that wears them down. I give my guys a lot of credit to keep fighting and keep grinding the way they did. I don’t think we ever gave up. I’m very proud of this team.”

For seniors Tyler Morris, Carlos Strong, Valdas Sirutis, Brendan Sullivan, Sherrod Smith, Tunde Agboola and Mike Schulze, Wednesday’s loss closed the book on their collegiate careers.

“It was very emotional for the seniors after the game,” Chambers said. “There was a lot of love in the locker room and we wished we could have kept it going for one more week. But it wasn’t in the cards. These guys wore that jersey with great pride and they put BU back where it’s supposed to be &- battling for championships, 20-win seasons. Their legacies will last forever because they broke a ton of records this year.”

Chambers’ compliments toward his squad didn’t stop there.

“We have great players,” Chambers said. “We have a great team. These guys did it. I was just fortunate enough to come along for the ride and orchestrate a little bit. They put in all the effort and fought all the bumps and bruises. I’m very proud of the leadership, the younger guys and I think everyone got better this year. Because we got better as individuals, we got better as a team.”

With his first season as BU’s bench boss under his belt, Chambers couldn’t help but look back at the type of year he’s had as the 24th coach in Terrier history.

“It’s been a great year,” Chambers said. “I’d like to think that this team became my team, my guys. I enjoyed the grind, the journey, the ups and downs and all the adversity &- that’s what it’s about. I grew as a coach. These guys grew as players. This team, these seniors are going to be successful at the end of the day.”