The Boston University men’s basketball team fell on the road to Patriot League-leaders Bucknell University by a score of 78-69 at Sojka Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
Bucknell (17-12, 12-4 Patriot League) took the lead against BU (12-15, 8-8 Patriot League) with 13:40 left in the first half and didn’t surrender it, leading by as much as 21 points in the second half.
Despite shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc, both slightly better than Bucknell, BU failed to complete its comeback attempt. The Terriers were unable to trim the lead to less than nine in the second half as the Bison advantage hovered around 15 for most of the second frame.
Although BU’s numbers might have looked stronger, it failed to get into a rhythm offensively until the second half, when it was down by 21.
“I don’t think we ran a particularly great offense,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “Sometimes numbers can be deceiving. It is about scoring in chunks, and we did not do that.”
The difference in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon was BU’s inability to rebound the ball, as the Terriers only grabbed one offensive rebound the entire game. BU’s big men were outplayed as junior forward Justin Alston and sophomore center Blaise Mbargorba combined for only four rebounds on the day.
This was an unusual performance from the Terriers, who rank third in the Patriot League in rebounding margin.
Bison guard Chris Hass, who had 16 points in the first half on four 3-pointers, led Bucknell.
“He comes off screens really well and doesn’t need a lot of room to get shots off,” Jones said of Hass. “He has great legs and great athletic ability and great length, and he can make the tough ones.”
Freshman Nana Foulland had 17 points on just nine shot attempts, operating from the low block all afternoon. His quickness and footwork were an issue for the Terrier big men, as both Alston and Mbargorba had no answer for the lengthy 6-foot-9 post player.
“We did not defend. They took control of the game right away,” Jones said. “We did not play with enough energy. We did not come ready to compete.”
Hass and Foulland led the way for the Bison in scoring, and the Bucknell guards excelled at getting into the paint and facilitating easy looks for the Bison.
“The thing that really hurt us was the dribble penetration from their guards,” Jones said.
Jones tried to ignite some energy in his young players when he received a technical foul for yelling at the referee after a foul call.
“I tried to get the team fired up. [It had] nothing to do with the refs,” Jones said.
Offensively, the Terriers are emerging as one of the most potent offenses in the conference. Fanning, who now leads the team in Patriot League scoring at 15.1 points per game, had a crucial performance going 7-for-10 from the field for a team-high 20 points.
With Fanning now in the starting lineup, it limits the bench scoring for the Terriers as the Bison bench outscored the BU bench 27 to seven. Despite that, Jones said he is not concerned with the bench scoring, and the team needs to continue to show up defensively.
“I am concerned with how we defend and the energy we bring to the court,” Jones said.
This loss for the visiting Terriers ended their two-game winning streak and wrapped up their road schedule. The Terriers will play host to the United States Military Academy and the College of Holy Cross to finish up the regular season. Both teams are under .500 in Patriot League play, and a win in both of these games could ensure a first-round bye and a home game in the second round of Patriot League Tournament.
Jones said in order to have success moving forward, the Terriers will need to focus on defense first and foremost.
“If we don’t defend, we are not going to win,” Jones said. “That is the bottom line.”
