The Boston University men’s basketball team found their stride against Lafayette College on Saturday in a 62-48 victory away from home.
It was a dogfight from the start. While Lafayette led in scoring early, the Terriers (8-13, 3-5 Patriot League) chased the Leopards (8-13, 7-1 PL) with great tenacity, ultimately leading for 61% of the game.
“Tonight, we were just much better,” head coach Joe Jones said. “We were more locked into what we needed to do to win. We played with more force, and obviously Otto [Landrum] was unbelievable tonight.”
Sophomore forward Otto Landrum embodied grit and perseverance, exploding off the bench with a layup and a dunk that put BU in the lead for the second time in the first half, 16-15.
He didn’t stop there — Landrum would end the night with a season high of 26 points.
In the first half, Lafayette tied it up three times. With a jumper from Leopard sophomore guard Ryan Pettit, the scoreboard lit 23-23. But the Terriers wouldn’t let up: shortly after, sophomore guard Ben Roy snuck a bounce-pass to Landrum, who picked up two points, giving BU the lead once again.
In the final minute of the first half, Landrum drove in for a layup, and senior guard Miles Brewster hit a three in the last three seconds, giving BU a 7-point lead, 32-25.
For Jones, keeping the same energy in the second half was crucial. This also meant altering the mindset — realizing they had to focus less on jump shooting and more on attacking.
“I think for the majority of games, we’ve led at halftime,” Jones said.“There haven’t been too many league games that we haven’t led. The second half has been our issue defensively and then we struggled to play to our identity on the offensive end.”
This game, the Terriers engaged in a slugfest and dug their heels near the net, accumulating 28 points in the paint overall.
Although BU succeeded in leading the second half, Lafayette scrapped and clawed after the Terriers. 11 minutes in, Leopard senior forward Kyle Jenkins shot a 3-pointer, bumping his team’s score to 44-38. However, they failed to creep up again. After a close-quartered tug-of-war battle — and with three minutes on the clock — they fell 14 points behind BU.
In the end, the Terriers brought home a victory that helped further shape their identity as a team.
“You’re going to try to win every game you play, but we’ve got to know who we are,” Jones said. “We have to learn how to play more to our strengths as a team, and then we’ve got to be the toughest team in the league. We’ve got to be willing to sacrifice and fight and scrap defensively and if we do that, I think we can play with anybody.”
Next, BU will face Holy Cross in Worcester on Monday at 7 p.m.
