The Boston University men’s basketball team pulled away in the second half against Sacred Heart University on Saturday, outscoring its opponents by 20 en route to a 70-49 victory away from home.
In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, the Terriers (3-5) cruised to a win thanks in part to 33 total points off the bench.
The Terriers’ biggest asset was their depth, head coach Joe Jones said.
“Trying to figure out who not to play is really difficult, so we just played everybody,” Jones said. “Our strength is in our numbers.”
The Terriers got off to an explosive start and established a nine-point lead, but the Pioneers (4-5) matched their aggression. Sacred Heart went on a lengthy 15-0 run, turning a 14-5 deficit into a 20-14 advantage after BU failed to score for over seven minutes.
The momentum started to swing back in BU’s favor, however, and with about 90 seconds left in the first half, freshman guard Kyrone Alexander sent a swift bounce pass to freshman wing Matai Baptiste.
Baptiste evaded Pioneer senior forward Alex Sobel’s attempt to block his shot, pulling off an acrobatic finish that cut Sacred Heart’s lead to two.
Neither team was ready for halftime just yet, though. A 3-pointer from Alexander put BU up by one, but Pioneer junior forward Aidan Carpenter answered with a layup to retake the lead.
With seconds to spare, junior guard Ethan Okwuosa drove forward and pulled up for a two-point jumper, hitting it with just two seconds on the clock to put the Terriers up one going into the locker room.
“At that time, we weren’t handling their pressure well,” said Jones about his squad’s response to giving up the 15-0 run. “[We] just tried to refocus on what the game plan was and what we were trying to do.”
Much of the second half was competitive, with Sacred Heart keeping pace with BU and keeping it close. However, the Pioneers hit a drought of their own in the latter phase of the game.
After a Sobel layup cut the Terrier lead to three with a little under 10 minutes to play, Sacred Heart only managed to score seven more points before the final whistle blew.
On the other hand, BU caught fire, shooting 47% from 3-point range and converting 12 of their 13 free-throw attempts in the second half.
Jones said that while the Terriers may have struggled at some points during the game, playing hard and slugging it out with Sacred Heart will only bolster their confidence.
“When you’re a young team and you’re an inexperienced team… you’re going to go through some growing pains,” said Jones. “I knew it was going to be a very challenging schedule for this group. A lot of it is because [we’re] going to be on the road a ton, and just handling all of that is not easy.”
Baptiste led BU in scoring with 12 points, and five of his teammates registered at least eight points of their own.
After losing all five of their prior road games, securing this first away win was huge for Jones and the Terriers.
“Sometimes you need to win to feel like you’re good enough,” Jones said. “Tonight, they were able to make a breakthrough, and hopefully next time we go on the road we feel a little more confident that we can get the job done.”
BU will return home to go up against the University of Maine. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
