Plagued by turnovers and an off-shooting night, the Boston University men’s basketball team fell to the University of New Hampshire Tuesday night by a score of 75-68 at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.
BU coach Joe Jones was impressed by the Wildcats’ (2-2) performance in the game, as UNH had only two turnovers in the second half. Meanwhile, the Terriers (1-3) shot a measly 63.2 percent from the free-throw line in the second frame.
“I thought New Hampshire had a great game. They played with a ton of hunger,” Jones said. “They were the aggressor the whole night.”
The Terriers were led on offense by sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson, who had 26 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including going 10-for-11 on free throws. The 26 points were a career-high for Hankerson. He also had 10 rebounds, earning him his first double-double of the season.
Junior guard John Papale contributed with 16 points and five assists, while sophomore guard Eric Fanning and junior forward Justin Alston chipped in eight points each.
However, the Wildcats were the better team throughout the game. They were led by freshman guard Daniel Dion, who came off the bench to score 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including going 4-for-8 from past the 3-point line. Sophomore Jaleen Smith had 15 points, classmate Jacoby Armstrong scored 13 and freshman Tanner Leissner chipped in 12 for the Wildcats.
The Terriers were trailing the Wildcats for most of the game, but never trailed by more than nine points and were only behind four points at the half. However, the Terriers squandered any chances to gain momentum in the second half, as they had seven turnovers in the half, and 15 in the entire game.
“We’ve got to do a better job of making better decisions with the basketball,” Jones said. “We definitely need to improve in that area.”
Throughout most of the second half, the Terriers and Wildcats would go back and forth scoring. It wasn’t until the final four minutes, when junior forward Nathan Dieudonne made a free throw to cut the lead to 63-59, that the game was up for grabs. The Wildcats missed a layup just seconds later, which was followed by a UNH foul on Hankerson. He sunk two free throws to cut the lead to two.
The Terriers were still within range of tying the game in the last two minutes, when Dion sunk two free throws to give the Wildcats a five-point lead. Papale answered right back only 13 seconds later by splashing a three, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to four.
After a missed layup from the Wildcats, BU had a chance to capitalize in the final minute, but Papale put up an errant 3-point shot. Alston rebounded the ball, but was unable to keep it in bounds. The Wildcats responded with a 3-point shot from Dion to extend the lead to seven with 37 seconds left, ultimately squashing any hope for a comeback for the Terriers.
Jones was not afraid to voice his disappointment in his team’s effort in the game.
“I don’t know if there was any aspect of the game that I was impressed with,” Jones said. “I was disappointed in our energy and our focus and sense of urgency. Our commitment to doing things the right way, we had a lack of it, we got to get back to work.”
Nick is currently writing for the Boston Hockey Blog. In the past, he has served as associate sports editor, and has covered men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse for the Daily Free Press. You can keep track of Nick's exciting life by following him on Twitter at @nikfraz14
