One of the questions coming into Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the Boston University men’s basketball team and the University of Maine at Case Gymnasium was if the Terriers would be able to turn the emotions from a much-anticipated Senior Night into a victory in their final regular-season game of the season.
BU’s (17-12, 11-5 America East) veterans had the answer, as a trio of senior guards &- Corey Lowe, Carlos Strong and Tyler Morris &- all scored in double digits to add to a tidal wave of first-half points and a similarly torrential performance in the second, sinking the Black Bears (19-10, 11-5), 76-56.
With nine seniors being honored, the team’s chemistry was on full display right from the start. BU coach Patrick Chambers was pleased with the show of emotion.
“It was awesome to see the excitement . . . of the guys on the bench, the excitement of the guys on the ground,” he said. “When you see four guys go pick up another teammate, that’s something special. That’s family. That’s a team headed in the right direction.”
Junior forward John Holland had a game-high 23 points &- bringing his total to 91 points scored in the last three games &- followed by Morris (12), Lowe (11) and Strong (11). Sophomore forward Jake O’Brien scored 10 and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Though he didn’t contribute in terms of points, senior forward Valdas Sirutis pulled down a career-high seven rebounds.
The Terriers picked apart Maine’s usually solid defense &- Saturday’s game was only the second time the Black Bears have allowed a conference opponent to score more than 70 points this season. BU hit 93.8 percent of its free throws and 11 3-pointers to make sure of that.
A tepid offense didn’t help Maine’s case, either. Sophomore Gerald McLemore was the only Black Bear to score in the double-digits, with 15.
The victory was the Terriers’ sixth win in seven games, a hot streak Chambers hopes continues into the America East Tournament next week in Hartford, Conn. BU enters as the No. 4 seed and will face Binghamton University on March 6.
“I think the seniors will set the intensity level,” Chambers said. “I mean, nobody wants to go home early. Everybody wants to get to the big dance . . . we’ll continue to play hard, continue to play better and play like its our last game.”
Right out of the gate, BU hit four 3-pointers to stretch its lead to 10 in the early going. Most of those 3s were totally uncontested by a Maine defense that was back on its heels, unable to respond to a fired-up Terrier team running high on Case’s emotional atmosphere. By 10:24, BU found itself in the middle of a 25-9 run that showed few signs of slowing down.
However, that offense did slow down a little bit as Maine went on a 10-4 run of its own starting at 6:48. But Morris ended the Terriers’ first half with a crucial 3-pointer, giving BU a 36-24 lead and plenty of breathing room to work with heading into the second.
The Terriers came out of the locker room with the same statement they wanted to make in the first &- that nothing was going to lessen BU’s scoring threat. Off of 3-pointers from Lowe, O’Brien and Strong, BU increased its lead to 20, three-and-a-half minutes into the final period of play.
The Terriers stretched their lead to 26 by maintaining pressure, after seeing what Maine was still capable of in the first.
“These guys played hard. They gave me everything they had,” Chambers said of his seniors’ efforts. “They never once questioned, they just bought in and tried to do what I asked, especially in this last month. But this team is still coming together.
“And I really truly believe we’re still not there yet. I think we can get even better, which is scary . . .and I’m looking forward to Monday [practice], I can tell you that.”
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