In a nail-biting finish, the Boston University men’s basketball team lost by just two points at Loyola University Maryland on Saturday, falling 69-67.

“Tough one for us,” said BU (11-12, 5-5 PL) head coach Joe Jones. “I thought Loyola played very well. They were nine for 22 from three, that was a major difference in the game.”

While the Terriers were 39.7% from the field and the Greyhounds (9-12, 4-6 PL) shot 46.9%, the biggest discrepancy was in three pointers. The Terriers shot 16.7%, while the Greyhounds landed 40.9% of their shots from behind the arc.

Loyola came out strong with a quick basket in the first minute, but the two teams stayed neck-and-neck for the majority of the game.

The largest deficit was an 11-point lead by Loyola seven minutes into the first half, after the team went on a 10-3 run in two minutes.

Soon after, the Greyhounds went through a five-minute scoring drought, allowing the Terriers to tie the game at 31 apiece.

Although Loyola held a lead for over 70% of the game, there were 14 lead changes throughout.

Entering the second half with the Greyhounds up 36-34, both sides kept the score close with their defensive efforts, continuing to swing momentum back and forth.

“Late in the second half when we had the lead, we had like a three or four minute stretch where we were pretty bad and we turned it over,” Jones said. “We didn’t execute well, we had breakdowns defensively and I thought that was the period that really cost us the game because we had a chance to take control of the game at that time.”

Eventually, the Terriers trailed by six with three minutes left in the game.

In this span, the Terrier defense held Loyola to only two free throws for the final three minutes of the game, hoping the offense could bridge the gap.

With just 44 seconds left, sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander was granted a free throw stint where he could tie the game. He missed his first, but closed the gap to one with the second.

Senior forward Malcolm Chimezie was then sent to the free-throw line after two free throws from Greyhound wing Jordan Stiemke gave the Greyhounds a three-point lead with just 26 seconds left.

He also went 1-for-2.

After Loyola connected on 1-of-2 free throws, Jones called a timeout with 13 seconds left and two points needed to tie.

With the clock ticking down, sophomore guard Michael McNair missed his 3-point buzzer beater attempt, ending the late-game comeback attempt.

Freshman Braeden Speed stood out for Loyola with 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Chimeze led the Terriers with 16 points and four rebounds, but the shining star of this game for the visitors was Alexander, who earned his career-first double-double off 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Terriers led in both offensive and defensive rebounds, 12-4 and 24-23 respectively, even as the result fell the other way.

Jones feels confident as conference play continues.

“We show a lot of resolve. We’ll be ready Wednesday night,” he said.

The Terriers will take on Navy on Wednesday at Case Gym with tip-off set for 7 p.m.