Looking to maintain its fast-gaining momentum, the No. 3 Boston University men’s basketball team will travel to Lafayette College Saturday in its quest for a fourth-straight Patriot League win.
This will be a rematch of their Jan. 9 matchup in which the Terriers (13-11, 6-5 Patriot League) dominated to the tune of a 68-47 victory. It is the lowest point total they have held opponents to all season.
That game also marked BU’s first conference win, after dropping its first three contests in the Patriot League. Although the Terriers only went 6-of-22 from 3-point range in the contest, they held the Leopards (5-16, 2-8 Patriot League) to a remarkably low 28.6 percent from the field.
“We’re really starting to come together. You can feel it,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “Guys are feeling more comfortable with each other on the floor, they have a higher level of understanding and we’re starting to get there. We had a span in the Lehigh [University] game where we probably played as good as we did all year in the second half of the game. It’s an improvement from last time we met.”
Junior guard Eric Fanning led BU with 22 points while senior forward Nathan Dieudonne notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Fanning and Dieudonne remain integral to the BU’s success, yet senior guard John Papale and sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely have reemerged as top options.
A game after hitting a buzzer beater to edge Lehigh (7-14, 5-5 Patriot League), Papale followed up with 18 points against the United States Naval Academy.
Despite being sidelined for a few games, and still not practicing due to a stress fracture, Mosely has returned to the effectiveness that characterized his freshman year campaign. Mosely has only started in three of the eight Patriot League games he has been a part of, yet he leads the Terriers in Patriot League-only scoring with 15 points a game. This includes hitting an extremely impressive 47.2 percent from beyond the arc.
While BU has gone 6-2 since the last encounter, the Leopards have not been so fortuitous. A 1-5 record since the BU game, coupled with a struggling defense, has plagued Lafayette’s chances of victory.
Although it currently sits at fourth in the Patriot League in scoring offense, right behind the third-placed Terriers, the team lets up 82 points per game, 6.7 more than the ninth placed team.
The Leopards are driven by their ability to knock down the 3-point ball, as they sit fourth in the conference in 3-point percentage. This is largely due to guard Bryce Scott, who shoots 45.1 percent from deep and leads the entire league.
“That’s the whole thing about this league. You have to defend the 3-point line because it’s a shooter’s league,” Jones said. “We started the first three games, and teams were obliterating us from the 3-point line. So we made some adjustments, and our guys have listened and we’re starting to guard that line better.”
BU will also look to exploit Lafayette’s weakness on the boards, as it currently sits dead last in rebounding margin while the Terriers sit fourth.
Having two top-six rebounders in the conference, Dieudonne and sophomore forward Nick Havener, should define the strategy for the Terriers on the glass.
“Nick and Nate have really saved us at times because both those guys go after the ball so much,” Jones said. “We just got to get more guys involved. Fanning, [freshman guard Kyle Foreman] and Mosely especially have to rebound the ball at a much higher level, and we’re starting to see the benefits of that.”
Even though Lafayette has several areas of vulnerability, Jones said he believes its scoring ability forces the Terriers to play on their toes.
“It’s going to come down to our level of intensity, our energy level,” Jones said. “This is a great offensive team. They share the ball, they have one of the best point guards in the league — Scott’s a veteran. They have pieces where if you’re not ready to go, then they can get you. We got to be ready.”
