Men’s basketball’s March Madness dream cut short

After a breathtaking double-overtime blockbuster in the Patriot League tournament semifinals, the Boston University men’s basketball team’s journey to the NCAA Tournament was cut short by Lehigh University, 91-88.

“Great game,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “Just a great battle. Really proud of the effort, just the plays we made, especially coming back from when we were down in regulation and the big plays in overtime.”

The Terriers (18-14, 12-6 Patriot League) were down 37-26 at halftime after a stagnant and sloppy first half in which they had 10 turnovers but only three assists. The limited ball movement reflected in their shooting, as they were limited to just 26.7 percent shooting.

“We just didn’t execute,” Jones said. “We’re a much better team than that.”

The trend continued to favor the Mountain Hawks (20-11, 12-6 Patriot League) in the second half, when senior Austin Price hit a 3-pointer to grow the lead to 16 points with 10:41 to go.

However, BU fought relentlessly and made a 14-2 run to bring the deficit to just four points with 4:51 left in the second half.

After a quiet 37 minutes to start the day, junior guard Cedric Hankerson exploded with three minutes to go in the second half, when he made a 4-point play to bring the score to 59-57.

Lehigh responded with conventional 3-point plays in their next two baskets, but Hankerson fought back, scoring another 3-pointer with 1:43 left.

Regulation finished 65-65 as two-time Patriot League Player of the Year Tim Kempton missed a fadeaway jump shot.

In overtime, the game was a constant back-and forth. Hankerson continued his play, starting off the overtime with a 3-pointer.

However, it was Kempton, who was limited during the regulation with foul trouble, who dominated. He constantly found a way to end up at the free throw line, causing foul troubles for the Terriers while helping Lehigh stay in the game.

With 1:44 to go in the first overtime, senior forward Justin Alston was fouled out after fouling Kempton three times during the period.

“I thought that was big,” Jones said. “Obviously, he’s the anchor defensively, so I thought that was a big call right there.”

Without BU’s defensive anchor, Kempton continued to push, finishing the game with 31 points, including his 2,000th career point, becoming just the second player in Patriot League history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds.

“We were trying to go at him,” Jones said. “We were trying to finish it. He was tough. He made big plays. He’s a terrific player.”

In second overtime, the Terriers seemed to have things under control, when Hankerson deflected a ball right to junior guard Eric Johnson for the steal, which led to a clear path foul. BU gained a one-point lead and a possession.

However, Kempton continued to make big plays, including what Jones called the play that “ended up being the biggest:” a corner-three to bring Lehigh up 85-82 with 1:22 to go.

The game seemed to be over when Lehigh took a seven-point lead with 13.8 seconds to go after BU made two consecutive turnovers.

However, the Terriers continued to fight.

Johnson, whose play off the bench was key for BU in crunch time, hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds to go to bring the game to four points. After Lehigh guard Brandon Alston made a pair of free throws, senior guard Eric Fanning made another 3-pointer to cut the lead to three.

With only two seconds left in the game, BU nearly forced a turnover on Lehigh’s inbound pass when freshman Jordan Cohen passed a ball to a teammate who was stepping out of bounds.

BU’s comeback fell short when Johnson fumbled the ball off the inbound and barely got the shot off in time.

Despite the disappointing result, Jones praised his players’ efforts.

“I’m just really proud of the guys — I told them I don’t know if I’ve been more proud of a group of guys,” Jones said. “I thought they really stuck with it and fought the whole time and didn’t give up, didn’t give in.”

Barring a postseason invitation, this is the story that seniors Alston, Fanning, Dylan Haines and Cameron Curry will tell as the epic ending to their college basketball careers.

Jones was extremely disappointed for the sake of his seniors, whom he believed “deserved to get to the championship game.”

“I’m really proud of Justin and Eric and Dylan and Cam,” Jones said. “We have a lot of guys who really bought into what we’re trying to do. It wasn’t just Eric Fanning and Justin. It was Cam Curry. It was Dylan Haines, who didn’t play a ton this year. It was the others guys that really were great in terms of the way they contributed every day. They didn’t complain. It wasn’t about them. Those guys helped the culture of our program.”