The Boston University’s men’s basketball team took on American University and moved up to take sole possession of second place in the Patriot League in Sunday’s 64-60 victory.

After getting off to a shaky start and going into the locker room at halftime trailing by 14, the Terriers (16-12, 10-5 Patriot League) were able to mount a massive second-half comeback to top the Eagles (14-12, 10-5 Patriot League).

The Terriers came into Sunday’s matchup having lost two of their last three games, including a loss at home to Patriot League leader Colgate University (22-7, 13-3 Patriot League). The Eagles, on the other hand, came into the game on an impressive run, having won four of their last five. 

The game started off neck and neck, but American took the lead 11-7 with 15:19 remaining and didn’t look back for the first half, taking a 40-26 lead into halftime. 

BU head coach Joe Jones said the slow start was due to a lack of effort from the Terriers to open the game. 

“They came back to the bench giving suggestions on what we should do offensively … I told them at halftime, ‘I don’t want to hear one word about what we’re doing offensively,’” Jones said. “I’ll listen to guys that are playing hard, you aren’t playing hard I don’t want to hear anything.”

Sophomore guard Walter Whyte echoed the statements made by coach Jones.  

“We’ve just got to come ready to play at the opening tip,” Whyte said. “Once the ball is tipped off you got to be ready to fight because every team is ready, and we have a big target on our backs.” 

Whyte also made it clear that slow starts can’t keep happening if the Terriers want to be successful moving forward. 

“We can’t keep doing this,” Whyte said. “This is the second game in a row where we’ve been down at the half … I think we will make that adjustment though, we’ll be ready next game.”

American dominated the boards in the first half, grabbing seven offensive rebounds and 20 total compared to BU’s nine rebounds, none of which came on the offensive end. 

Jones said that the team’s focus was a big reason for getting out-rebounded early. 

“We’ve probably been the best rebounding team in the conference and we didn’t have one offensive rebound [in the first half],” Jones said. “We weren’t focused on the right things.” 

The Eagles were also red-hot from three in the first half, knocking down six of their nine three-point attempts. Sophomore forward Connor Nelson and junior guard Jamir Harris each knocked down two apiece. 

Sophomore guard Alex Vilarino helped keep BU in the game, leading the Terriers in scoring in the first half with seven points.

It was a different story in the second half as the Terriers opened on a 25-9 run, eventually taking their first lead of the game since the 18:38 mark of the first half when they led 3-0. 

The game remained tight through the end of the second half, with American getting a chance to tie the game with 13 seconds left, but BU managed to hold on to the lead and leave with a 64-60 win. 

The Terriers held the Eagles to just 20 second-half points, holding American to just 34.6 percent shooting, including an 0-for-7 mark from three. 

After being dominated on the glass in the first half, the Terriers ended up being the better rebounding team by the end of the game, finishing the game with 38 rebounds, 14 on the offensive side, while American finished with 33. 

Jones said that despite the huge second-half comeback, he didn’t make many adjustments at halftime. 

“We changed our ball-screen coverage a little bit, that was the only thing we did,” Jones said. 

Whyte was tabbed by Jones as a key component for the team’s second-half comeback.  

Whyte finished the game with a packed stat line, putting up 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals. 11 of those 14 points and eight of those rebounds came in the second half. 

Senior forward Max Mahoney finished the game with his seventh double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass. 

Terrier junior guard Javante McCoy came into Sunday’s game with 996 career points, but will have to wait until Wednesday to surpass 1,000. McCoy scored just two points and only played a total of 13 minutes, his lowest total for the season. 

Jones said McCoy’s absence from the game was in large part due to his illness, which he has yet to fully recover from. 

Eagles senior guard Sa’eed Nelson finished as the game’s leading scorer, dropping 21 points to go along with eight steals and three assists. 

This win gives the Terriers second place in the Patriot League with just two games left to play in the regular season. The win also clinched a first-round bye and a quarterfinal game for BU.

When asked how big a deal this was for the team, Jones said he doesn’t like to focus on those things coming into a game. 

“I don’t really give a lot of credence to that stuff,” Jones said. “I know you try to get the second seed if you can do it because you want to try and get two home games, what the freak man, like why have that on your shoulders … if we need motivation to go play a game because it’s for second place, then something’s wrong.” 

Mahoney said conference standings are irrelevant as the team’s goal is to win every game.

“Every game is a must-win game for us,” Mahoney said. “We have to focus on what we are doing, less about the standings, less about who we are playing.” 

The Terriers will head to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Wednesday to take on Lehigh University (8-20, 5-11 Patriot League). Tip off at Stabler Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.