WORCESTER The Boston University men’s basketball team dropped its season opener to the College of the Holy Cross, 59-57, Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 3,265 at the Hart Recreation Center.
A 10-0 Terrier run in the final three minutes gave BU a two-point lead, but Jave Meade made a pair of free throws with five seconds left to put Holy Cross ahead. A Matt Turner three-pointer rimmed out as time expired, as the Terriers fell to begin their 95th season of basketball.
After trailing 55-47 with 4:14 left, BU stormed back to take a 57-55 advantage when Chaz Carr hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to play. Meade made a runner to tie the game at 57-57, and when junior forward Rashad Bell could not handle Carr’s pass in the lane with 19 seconds left, the Crusaders could hold for the final shot.
Meade lost the handle on the ball as he was pressured by Shaun Wynn at the top of the circle, and the BU sophomore guard dove for the loose ball. Wynn was called for a foul when he knocked Meade backward to the floor, and with BU already over the team limit, the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year went to the free throw line with five seconds to play.
‘It was a loose ball and anytime there is a loose ball on the floor I’m going to dive for it,’ Wynn said. ‘It was a judgment call by the ref and you have to live with it.’
Meade nailed both shots and Carr immediately took the inbound pass and sprinted up court for BU. Without any timeouts, Carr handed the ball to Turner at the right elbow. Already having made two difficult three-pointers in the second half, Turner elevated and got a good look at the basket, only to have his shot miss as the final buzzer sounded.
‘They deserve credit,’ said BU coach Dennis Wolff. ‘We were down eight, then up two and it looked like we were in control. We just made a few mistakes in the last minute.’
The Crusaders (1-0) used full-court pressure at various times throughout the contest to fluster the Terriers into costly turnovers. Holy Cross built its biggest lead of the game nine points in the early going, as BU scored just 11 points in the first 13 minutes.
The press got to the Terriers (0-1) in the second half as well, as BU committed 12 of its 20 turnovers in the last 20 minutes.
‘We didn’t get set up and we didn’t get organized, that was the problem,’ Wolff said. ‘Right from the beginning we had guys in the wrong spot, and when you appear tentative against it like we did, we got ourselves in trouble.’
Holy Cross took a 27-24 lead into the break, but BU answered with a 14-3 run to open the second frame, capped by a pair of Turner treys that gave the Terriers their biggest edge at 38-30.
‘We had a huge run but we got away from some of the things we needed to do,’ Wolff said. ‘I thought we were not nearly tough enough in and around the basket they pushed, they shoved, they got rebounds and it put us in a position where we were behind.’
The Crusaders fought back, as junior forward John Hurley and freshman guard Torey Thomas combined for 22 second-half points. The pair shot 14-16 from the floor for the game, as the Crusaders went on a 16-2 run midway through the second half to make it 51-44 with 6:38 to play.
Holy Cross built a 55-47 advantage before BU made its final push.
The Terriers essentially shut down Meade the Crusaders’ best returning starter until the end when he scored the team’s last four points. Hurley and Thomas finished with 18 points apiece to lead Holy Cross, while Meade was the only other player in double figures, with 10. Meade also added five assists and four steals.
Senior forward Ryan Butt paced a balanced BU attack with 12 points and five boards. Wynn, who played a team-high 32 minutes and all but one minute of the second half, chipped in with six points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench.
‘It wasn’t our defense, it was our offense,’ Wolff said. ‘When we took our time, put the ball inside and got good shot selection, we were in better shape than we were otherwise.
‘I thought we forced turnovers and made them work. What we didn’t do was then clear our defensive board. Obviously, this was a game that was in our grasp and we just didn’t make the plays we needed to.’
BU’s next game is Tuesday night when it hosts No. 13 Saint Joseph’s University at Case Gymnasium. The Terriers then travel to Boston College on Saturday.
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