Finishing strong was key in more ways than one for the Boston University men’s basketball team in a 63-53 victory over Bucknell University at Agganis Arena Sunday afternoon.
Senior Carlos Strong scored all 11 of his points against Bucknell (4-6) in the final 5:25 of the game to give the Terriers (3-6) much-needed breathing room in holding off the Bison’s second-half stampede.
However, junior Jake O’Brien was the big difference for most of the game, contributing 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the Terriers. He was just two rebounds shy of his third career double-double and played for 38 minutes, nine minutes more than junior John Holland who played for 31.
‘We rode Jake [O’Brien] a little bit for a while there,’ Chambers said. ‘He did a great job. I’ve got to find more minutes to rest him, because he’s going against big guys, and I’m asking him to shoot 3s, rebound and get us double-doubles every night. That’s a tall task for anybody.’
Senior Corey Lowe, fresh off a foot injury that sidelined him for BU’s Nov. 2 game against the then-No. 13/14 University of Connecticut, was solid in his return ‘-‘- he scored 11 points, had six assists and grabbed three rebounds.
The Terriers came out firing in the first half, starting with a 21-6 run in the first 10 minutes. BU outscored Bucknell 32-16 in the first ‘-‘- O’Brien and Holland were the playmakers, contributing 12 and eight points, respectively.
Senior co-captain Tyler Morris was all over the court in the first, harrying the Bison on defense with four steals, burying a 3-pointer at 15:42 and recording two rebounds and two assists.
‘We’re getting there,’ BU coach Pat Chambers said. ‘We’re playing hard. Obviously we competed, shared the ball a little bit more. I thought our first five gave us energy, especially in the first half.’
On the other hand, the Bison shot just 19.2 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Junior G.W. Boon, finished the game with 17 points, scored a 3-pointer to give the Bison their first basket of the game at 14:20.’
BU’s shooting cooled off with 10 minutes left in the first and let the Bison crawl back into contention. Although the Terriers still led by 16 at the end of half, a sustained effort on offense could have ended the game early.
Bucknell came out firing after halftime, scoring 10 points in the first three minutes. They cut the Terriers’ lead to six by 16:49, hitting three of their five second-half 3-pointers in those early minutes.
Holland and Morris were quiet in the second, undercutting BU’s offense just as the Bison mounted their comeback. The junior got into foul trouble early in the second stanza, contributing to his silent second half.
O’Brien and Lowe tried to put Bucknell down all by themselves near the 16-minute mark when O’Brien slammed two consecutive dunks on a sleeping Bison defense. Lowe was a big part of the first play, grabbing a rebound off Boon’s missed 3-pointer. Seeing O’Brien running towards the other end of the court, Lowe lobbed the ball to the junior who dunked over a Bucknell defender.
Lowe and O’Brien teamed up again on a similar play less than a minute later that increased the Terriers’ lead to eight with 15 minutes to go.
With six minutes left, the Bison came within three of the lead. But then Strong started his run and freshman B.J. Bailey contributed as well, working the boards for key defensive rebounds. Chambers cited Bailey’s tip-in of one of Strong’s missed 3-pointers as a turning point in the final minutes of the game and a good sign of the young gun’s positive development in the Terriers’ offense.
‘That was a huge play,’ Chambers said. ‘He’s gaining those habits of going to the glass, knowing the time and score, knowing the situation. For a freshman I think he’s handled himself very well in the last two games.’
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