The streak of first-round futility was broken and steps were taken in the right direction, but the Terriers could not get past the Great Danes this weekend in the semifinal round of the America East conference tournament.
After first-round exits in the tournament for three-straight years, including one as a top-seeded squad, the Boston University men’s basketball team defeated Binghamton University in a thriller, 62-58, Saturday night, before falling to the University at Albany, 59-49, yesterday.
The second-seeded Great Danes, who had defeated the University of New Hampshire just twelve hours earlier, came out with fire in their eyes and put BU in a 20-11 hole before the Terriers began a push that would give them a 26-25 halftime lead.
That push was sparked by freshman Valdas Sirutis, the once little-used big man who, thanks to senior co-captain Omari Peterkin’s early foul trouble, blossomed with the increased playing time to show that he could be deserving of a larger role next season.
Sirutis (6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists against Albany) was active on the offensive glass, putting back two Terrier misses, and also displayed a nose for scoring, netting two on a difficult scooping layup from behind the backboard. And against Binghamton, he drained a huge late-game 3-pointer. On two other occasions, BU coach Dennis Wolff showed an increased amount of trust in Sirutis, calling a play for him to post up, allowing to show off a soft baby-hook shot that just bounced outside of the cylinder.
“I do not think I did anything different [today],” Sirutis said. “I just tried to help my team by doing the best I can do. I had some luck tonight and it worked out.”
Even with the play of Sirutis and freshman Scott Brittain — who also had a very strong tournament, earning Player of the Game honors for BU against Albany and putting up 16 points and 19 rebounds over the weekend — the Terriers still found themselves at a disadvantage with just seconds to go in the half before senior co-captain Brian Macon found an offensive board and, in one fell swoop, put his team up by a point as the buzzer sounded.
But that halftime lead would mark the last ounce of tournament glory the Terriers would be able to enjoy, as they were unable to score a single point until 7:17 into the second period. Albany’s 13-2 run to open the half proved to be too much for BU too handle, even for a team that had overcome a 12-point second-half deficit just the night before.
“I think we showed a little bit of our immaturity today when the other team ratchets up the defense and we are trying to things in too big a hurry and trying to do things for ourselves instead of someone else,” Wolff said. “Those are the things you’ve got to keep talking to a young team about.”
“We were just struggling to hit shots altogether,” said freshman Corey Lowe. “It was just one of those days when shots weren’t going in.”
The Terriers showed promising moments of retaking the lead, but the Great Danes seemed to have an answer for every BU mini-run. When BU ended the first Albany run with a Strong layup, closing it lead to five points, America East Player of the Year Jamar Wilson (14 points, 9 rebounds) drained a trey. And when a Lowe (7 points) 3-pointer brought the Terriers back within five at the 8:28 mark, Albany’s Brent Wilson (6 points) strolled right on down the court and calmly drained the dagger that would make the separation eight — the closest BU would ever get.
While the 10-point loss to the Great Danes was a less-than-ideal ending to the careers of seniors Macon and Peterkin, Macon, showing the leadership that he has displayed on and off the court all season long, had words of encouragement for the young team he leaves behind.
“I think there’s a lot of talent and everybody,” Macon said. “Corey [Lowe], Carlos [Strong], everybody, Scott [Brittain], Tyler [Morris], they all work hard in practice so I’m confident that they are going to be good players once they just get through some small things. They will be a great team.”
And Albany coach Will Brown echoed those same sentiments.
“They are a good team,” Brown said. “To have the caliber of coaches they have with the young talent they have, they have a chance to be special. They really do. I am very impressed. It is scary, I do not even want to think about it. I will start worrying about it in the offseason. They are going to be a team to beat in the future.”
The seniors played large roles in the Terriers’ win the night before, with Peterkin putting up a near double-double (9 points, 8 rebounds) and Macon hitting two huge treys when the Terriers needed them most – to fend off the Bearcats’ scrambling runs.
Bearcat senior Steve Proctor had a huge night offensively, dropping in 22 points, including four 3-pointers, but in the end, it was the adjustments made on the Terrier bench that gave them the victory. Not surprisingly, since Strong put up a school-record eight 3s against them last time out, Binghamton seemed intent on not giving BU any open looks on the perimeter. So, with the perimeter shut off, both Lowe and Macon began slicing down the lanes and challenging the Binghamton big men, either earning layups or trips to the line. And it was a slicing Lowe driving across the key and scooping layup that broke a 58-58 tie with 52 seconds left in the game.
“Obviously, I am very proud of our team tonight,” Wolff said Saturday. “We overcame two different 12-point deficits, and to keep plugging away at it against the team that was playing hard and well is a credit to what these kids have been about all year. They had a lot of resolve again tonight, and we are thrilled to be able to play tomorrow.
“I think we had a number of guys make big plays,” he continued. “Corey made a number of really tough shots. Defensively, we made it harder for them to score in the last five minutes than we had been for stretches during the game. These kids deserve a lot of credit.”
After a tumultuous year, the Terriers will likely enjoy an offseason when they can concentrate on positive steps for the program, rather than their shortcomings in the tournament or off-court issues. And next year, many of the veteran teams, like Albany, will no longer have exponentially more experience than the Terriers.