Men’s basketball handles American, extends winning streak

The Boston University men’s basketball team fought off a late charge from American University Wednesday night, defending Case Gym to the tune of a 71-52 victory, the team’s fifth straight.

Things could not be going much better for the Terriers (15-11, 8-5 Patriot League), as the team won eight of its last 10 games and now sits in second place in the conference standings. With five games left in the regular season, BU has a chance to upend Bucknell University for the first seed in the Patriot League Tournament.

Junior guard Eric Fanning and sophomore backcourt mate Cheddi Mosely dropped 25 and 20 points on the Eagles (7-17, 5-8 Patriot League), respectively. It was the first time this year two Terriers had more than 20 points in a game. Freshman point guard Kyle Foreman also played well, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“That was a great team win,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “We had to gut it out, we had to win and get stops. Our coaching staff did a great job. [Associate] coach [Shaun] Morris did a great job on the offensive end with his input. Just a great stop from our staff and all the players that played. It was a tough, tough win.”

After a slow start to the game, the Terriers played some of their best basketball all season, finishing the first half on a 35-22 run. Jones’ squad shot a scorching 15-of-21 from the field in the half, including 6-of-6 on 3-point shots against the Patriot League’s best 3-point shot defense (.313). BU would go on to shoot 57.1 percent from deep in the game.

“We have some good shooters, and all of these guys can make shots,” Jones said. “Our ability to score inside, our ability to drive the ball and our ability to shoot the ball just kind of opens up opportunities for us to get threes.”

One area of concern is the health of senior forward Nathan Dieudonne, who landed awkwardly after competing for a rebound and needed to be helped off of the court. It appeared to be a sprained left ankle, but Jones is uncertain of the seriousness of the injury.

“I have no idea,” Jones said. “He said it was pretty bad. I don’t know if we’ll have him for Saturday, but we need him.”

After the Terriers defeated the Eagles 61-50 Jan. 13 with 34 points in the paint, Jones said he believed American made it a point to better defend the paint, which left BU’s shooters open at times.

“When they were switching off on things and they have a guard on one of our bigs inside, and then they got to bring over weak-side help, then we can get a skip pass or ball reversal for a three,” Jones said. “That’s why we were able to get 3-point shots tonight, because they were helping so much inside. We kind of hurt them inside in the last game, so they were trying to do a good job of taking that away, but it opened up the 3-point shooting.”

Once the second half started, however, the Terriers looked like a different team. Their struggle on offense and turnovers led to easy baskets for the Eagles, as American opened up the second half on a 15-5 run. With the score 46-44 in favor of BU with 8:34 remaining, it was anyone’s game.

Luckily, BU woke up just in time, going on a lengthy run to put the game away for good in the final minutes. The charge was led by Mosely, who scored eight straight points thanks to two 3-point shots in transition. Mosely ended the night shooting 60 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from deep and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

“That guy’s been unbelievable,” Jones said. “He’s been doing this and not really practicing much — it’s amazing what he’s been able to accomplish. You’re never surprised by … Cheddi and Kyle. They’re so talented that you’re not surprised when they do eye-popping things. You just kind of grow to expect those guys to make plays.”