The Boston University men’s basketball team is headed back to the America East Championship game for the second straight year after defeating Northeastern University 71-61 Monday night at Walter Brown Arena.
One day after cruising to a 14-point first-round win over the University of New Hampshire, the Terriers came out sluggish against an inspired Husky squad, finding themselves down 28-14 with just under seven minutes left in the first half. The Huskies controlled the flow of the game for much of the first half, as their swarming defense forced the Terriers into tough shots, and didn’t allow players like Billy Collins and Rashad Bell to find a decent look at the hoop.
With Collins and Bell combining for just six first-half points on two of seven shooting, it was junior Jason Grochowalski who stepped up, dropping in 15 points in the first 20 minutes, cutting the Northeastern lead to four at the half. The 6’6″ Shrewsbury native took the ball hard to the rim time after time in the first, dropping numerous layups at a time when high-percentage shots were tough to come by. When he didn’t get the shots to fall, Grochowalski was hitting from the line, dropping all six of his free throws in the first half.
After what BU coach Dennis Wolff called a calm halftime locker room session, the Terriers looked like a different team. After a three-pointer by Northeastern freshman guard Jose Juan Barea extended the Husky lead to 40-34, BU went on a 7-1 run, beginning with a Collins put-back slam, to take its first lead since the score was 7-6.
In the midst of that run, the two teams provided a little example of their growing rivalry, when things on the floor got a little heated. With 14:10 remaining in the second, Bell planted his feet in the lane and drew a charge from Barea. When the 6’8″ sophomore and 5’11” freshman fell to the floor, Barea delivered a slap to the side of Bell’s head. Grochowalski, coming to the aide of his teammate, exchanged words and shoves with Barea, and the officials were left to sort it all out in front of a TV monitor at the scorer’s table. After the dust settled, Barea and Grochowalski were hit with technical fouls. Barea’s technical, in addition to the personal for the charge, left him with four fouls and a seat on the bench for the next 8:17.
With Barea on the bench, the Terriers seemed to hit their stride, slowly pulling ahead of the Huskies, until the 5:53 mark, when Northeastern coach Ron Everhart, down four points, was forced to go back to Barea and forward Sylbrin Robinson, both on the bench with four fouls.
Just two minutes later, with the Terriers nursing a five-point lead, it was the struggling Seymour that delivered the dagger. Scoreless through the first 35 minutes, Seymour calmly stepped into a three that put the game out of reach at 61-53. The Huskies would be unable to get any closer over the next 3:55, as the Terriers experience led them to the 10-point win. After being behind by 14 in the first half, the Terriers ended the game by outscoring Northeastern 57-33.
While Grochowalski’s 22 led the Terriers, Bell and sophomore Chaz Carr helped the cause, dropping 12 and 13 respectively. Barea, just one day removed from a 38-point performance and some last-second heroics against the University of Maine, shot 3-12 from the floor and 2-8 from behind the arc for a total of 11 points. The Terriers, as usual, were strong from the free throw line, hitting 28 of the 36 shots they took.
The Terriers now move on to Saturday’s America East Championship game, where they will face the University of Vermont for the third time this season. The second-seeded Catamounts reached the final after cruising to a 67-51 win over the University of Hartford in Monday night’s semifinal matchup. The Terriers and Catamounts split their first two meetings this season, with BU winning a 65-62 decision in January at Case Gym, and Vermont returning the favor with a 60-53 victory in February in Burlington.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Tickets for the game, which will take place at “The Roof,” are available through the BU ticket office. Almost every Terrier knows the importance of the home-court advantage in the title game, as last year’s final, a 66-40 BU rout of Maine, was played before a sellout crowd inside a raucous Case Gym.
A win on Saturday and the Terriers will be headed to their second-straight NCAA Tournament. And with quality wins over the likes of Florida State and Ohio University, and strong performances against Stanford University and probable No. 1 seed University of Arizona, the Terriers might be able to avoid that dreaded 16 seed, and a possible first-round rematch with those Wildcats of Arizona.
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