The Boston University men’s basketball team opened their matchup against Army West Point with an explosive start, but the Terriers could not sustain their success and later lost 69-59 on Wednesday night.
Despite the loss, the Terriers (7-13, 2-5 Patriot League) kept their composure and made crucial plays to keep them in the game. Freshman guard Kyrone Alexander and freshman wing Matai Baptiste both had strong offensive performances, putting up 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Towards the middle of the second half, the Black Knights (6-14, 2-5 PL) turned it on offensively and cut the Terriers’ lead to just two points.
“We didn’t make the shots,” BU head coach Joe Jones said. “We could have been a bit better, but the vibes were good. I think we’ve got to continue to have that mindset and I think that’s what we have to carry over.”
The energy was high and the Terriers had the upper hand for nearly three quarters of the game, but BU could not keep up when Army took over with their best scoring run of the game in the second half.
Sophomore guard Ben Roy did his best to keep the team in the game, turning the Black Knights over twice in the span of 30 seconds.
Army felt the pressure following Roy’s defense and took a timeout at 13:49 in the first half.
The energy remained for the Terriers after the timeout, with senior captain guard Miles Brewster forcing another Army turnover, followed by a 3-pointer just minutes later.
The Terriers’ bigs made sharp plays throughout the game, with sophomore forward Nico Nobili hitting a 3-pointer after forcing a turnover of his own, and forcing the Black Knights to call yet another timeout.
The Terriers applied strong defensive pressure throughout the game, with sophomore forward Otto Landrum and Brewster forcing Black Knight turnovers.
The Terriers ended the first half with a 7-point lead, ahead 30-23.
In the second half, the Black Knights picked up momentum.
Freshman forward Josh Scovens of the Black Knights hit a jumper 15 seconds into the second half, and the Terriers began to miss key offensive plays that may have kept them in the lead.
The energy of the Terriers cooled down a bit towards the middle of the second half as the Black Knights began to knock down shots. Army connected on 45.5% of their shots behind the arc, in comparison to the Terriers 21.4%.
The Black Knights pulled ahead with an 8-point lead over the Terriers with four minutes left to go, and BU needed to heat up to catch up late. Regardless of the last seven minutes where the Black Knights had come back to take the lead, the Terriers didn’t back down.
Despite the Black Knights racking up 11 personal fouls in the second half, the Terriers failed to take advantage, shooting just above 83% from the line, not enough to overcome the Black Knights’ 58% shooting from the field.
After a strong start, the team fell apart in the second half, eventually falling 10 points short of the Black Knights.
“I think it’s the whole belief that you keep fighting, you keep trying to learn and you keep doing things right,” Coach Jones said. “I think we have enough talent that we can turn the corner. We’re showing that we’re capable.”
BU will travel to Lafayette to play the Leopards on Saturday at 7 pm.
