Men’s basketball contains Tim Kempton, Lehigh

Going into the Patriot League matchup versus Lehigh University, Boston University men’s basketball head coach Joe Jones knew reigning Patriot League Player of the Year Tim Kempton would be one to watch.

“I don’t know if there is anybody in the league that can stop him 1-on-1,” Jones said. “He’s that good. He takes his time, he’s big and strong, he knows how to play and spins off the contact. He just has a knack [for scoring].”

Kempton, a junior center whose father played eight years in the NBA, was a formidable force for Lehigh (6-14, 4-5 Patriot League) Saturday, although his team fell 75-73 to BU. Kempton finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, but the Terriers avenged a 81-73 defeat Jan. 2.

“His father played at Notre Dame, and he was a great player,” Jones said. “But I don’t know if he was as good as this kid in terms of his footwork and his ability to finish at the rim. He’s a talented, talented kid.”

Kempton dropped 22 points on BU in their last game and got off to a strong start in this one, scoring the first basket of the contest. However, BU caught a break, as Kempton got in foul trouble in the opening half and was subbed out.

Once the Scottsdale, Arizona native returned with 8:25 remaining in the period, the Terriers made it an objective to drive to the rim and attack Kempton, to try and get him his third foul.

John Papale hits a game-winner with 1.8 left to give @BostonUMBB a 75-73 win over #lehigh @pl_mbb @DFPsports pic.twitter.com/f2fXvZNVWL

— Jackie Bamberger (@jackie_bam) January 31, 2016

“They did a good job of not fouling,” Jones said of Lehigh’s defense. “We were trying to go at him, and he did a good job of not fouling and at times, we weren’t able to finish it [since] he’s so big. Sometimes when you do that, it hurts the flow of your offense, so now you’re going to try to go 1-on-1 and isolate and your flow changes. But we were able to keep playing, we went after him, we weren’t able to get him to foul out.”

By the end of the half, the Terriers’ big men trio of senior Nathan Dieudonne, sophomore Nick Havener and junior Blaise Mbargorba, held Kempton to seven points on 3-of-7 shooting. However, the Terriers still found themselves trailing 39-35, as Lehigh outscored them 24-12 in the paint.

In the second half, the Terriers made the proper adjustments down low and started to have their way with Lehigh, opening the period on a 28-12 run. Jones credited the comeback charge to his team’s aggressiveness on both sides of the ball.

“The one thing we were able to do is stay aggressive,” Jones said. “When our guys are in that mentality both offensively and defensively, we’re a much better team. When we’re like the way we were in the first eight minutes of this game, we’re not a very good team.”

This trey from John Papale puts #BU up 56-49 over #Lehigh with 11:39 to go @DFPsports pic.twitter.com/nu8ACSEarQ

— Jackie Bamberger (@jackie_bam) January 31, 2016

Jones explained that he was frustrated by how his team handled Kempton and others early in the game.

“I have to learn how to snap them out of it,” Jones said. “That’s why I was subbing so much early. I was like, ‘I’m not watching guys walking around.’ We were literally walking around. We started to get it going, and we were okay.”

Once BU built up a 12-point lead with 9:58 to play, though, Kempton finally came alive. He finished the half with 17 points and six rebounds, but it turned out that the Terriers defense would get the last laugh. Junior guard Eric Fanning tied the game at 73 with 11 seconds left, and Lehigh had one chance to win it in regulation.

On that final Lehigh play, Kempton came up near halfcourt for a pick-and-roll with guard Kahron Ross. The Terriers pressured Ross, who threw the ball past Kempton and out-of-bounds to give BU the ball with 2.7 seconds left.

Moments later, senior guard John Papale hit a floater as time expired to give the Terriers the 75-73 win. Their aggressive defending on Kempton and the Mountain Hawks provided just enough to give BU its fifth win in seven games.