Freshman guard D.J. Irving’s fourth and final free-throw attempt of the game sailed through the air and agonizingly bounced off of the rim and into the waiting hands of opposing guard Earl Pettis.
It was a rebound that all but sealed the game for the Explorers from La Salle University, as the Boston University men’s basketball team was forced to foul Pettis with eight seconds remaining because they were still down by one excruciating point, 82-81.
Pettis would follow the foul with two buckets from the charity stripe that gave the Explorers (6-3) a three-point lead. Senior forward John Holland managed a 3-point shot before time expired but missed off of the backboard to end the game at 84-81. A chance to finish clawing their way back into the game and nail down a close win had come as close as Irving’s free throw with 10 seconds left, but the comeback simply wasn’t meant to be.
“I thought D.J. was terrific tonight,” said BU coach Patrick Chambers. “I thought he played great. I though he played fearless. I was so proud of him. Even though he missed the foul shot to tie the game, I was proud of him. He had the guts to take it strong [to the hoop to draw the foul], and he wanted the ball. When is the last time you saw that? It has been a while. It has been a while. So, I’m excited about that, and I’m excited about his future.”
Gutsy performances were not hard to come by for the Terriers (4-6), as the team out-hustled their opponents for much of the game, dominating much of a first half that saw BU run out to a 30-18 lead with 6:49 left. That came after an 8-0 run by the Terriers that gave junior guard Darryl Partin five of his team leading 20 points.
Freshman forward Dom Morris (5-for-7 shooting, 15 points, 8 rebounds) also played a strong game, imposing his will down low and leading the Terriers on the boards. Irving, Holland and junior forward Jake O’Brien joined Partin and Morris as players who scored in double figures with 10, 11, and 15 respectively.
Holland had a slow start, coming off of the bench for the first time this season in place of freshman guard Mike Terry Jr. The Terrier star failed to hit a shot until 12:52 remained in the game.
“[The reason for Holland coming off of the bench] is not physical,” Chambers said. “I want more leadership out of him. He could have started tonight. It wouldn’t have been a problem. But, John has to show me, as a senior, he has to come every day and show these freshmen what a BU basketball player is. Off of the floor, he has to show these freshmen, how a BU basketball player conducts himself. Until he does that on a consistent basis, he is coming off of the bench.”
Partin was playing against the team where he had spent the first two years of his collegiate basketball career before transferring to BU. The guard went 8-for-17 shooting, pulled down six rebounds and earned five assists and two steals on the game. He also committed five turnovers and fouled out of the game with 17 seconds remaining.
“Darryl was terrific tonight,” Chambers said. “I was proud of him. He handled himself like a true veteran. He didn’t let the fact that La Salle was his old team affect him. I told him the last two days, ‘Just play aggressive. Play with confidence. Don’t worry about anything. Don’t worry about that it’s La Salle. Take a big deep breath, no big deal.’ He says, ‘Coach, I’m totally fine.’”
The Terriers closed out the first half with a slim 38-35 lead after holding the Explorers to a 35.3 shooting percentage. An inability to keep La Salle out of the hoop nearly as effectively in the second half allowed the Explorers to eventually steal the lead and hang on for the victory. La Salle shot a blistering 65.4 percent in the second half alone for 49 points.
The second half also saw increased contributions from forward Steve Weingarten, who went 3-for-4 shooting for eight points in the second half after going 0-for-4 in the first, and star center Aaric Murray, who scored eight of his 12 points in the second frame. Murray drew scouts from the Boston Celtics to the game, but he was held in check for most of the game, playing only 15 minutes after getting into foul trouble and fouling out with 4:48 remaining.
The Explorers were picked up by guard Ruben Guillandeaux, who led all scorers with 21 points off of a 7-for-12 shooting performance, and Pettis, who scored 19 points while going 4-for-8 from the field and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe.
The teams went back and forth for much of the second half as neither was able to hold a lead of more than five through the first 18 minutes of the frame. The half featured nine lead changes and six ties. With 1:56 remaining, the Explorers opened up their largest lead of the game following a jumper by freshman guard Tyreek Duren and then a freebie from the line. From there, the Terriers continued to battle and did not quit until the final buzzer.
Even when the game looked all but out of reach as Guillandeaux had an opportunity to put his team up by six with 49 seconds remaining with two free throws, the Terriers hung on. He missed both and on the ensuing possession, Irving put up a 3-point shot that rolled around the rim twice before falling through to cut the La Salle lead to one.
From there, the Explorers would push their lead back to three with two more free throws, which were followed by a Holland dunk with 18 seconds left that kept the Terriers alive at 81-80. After Guillandeaux went 1-for-2 on his next free throws, Irving was set up at the line for a chance to tie the game and possibly force overtime. The rest is history.
The loss is the first for the Terriers at home, and their first at Agganis Arena this season. Four of the Terriers’ six losses have come by a combined nine points. BU will look to regroup from its third straight loss when it takes on cross-town rival Harvard University Saturday afternoon.
“Losses in general are frustrating,” Partin said, after being asked about the Terriers four close losses. “We have a game coming up on Saturday, so, we feel bad now, but we have to focus on the next one so [that close loss count] doesn’t become five.”
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