Basketball, Sports

Men’s basketball can’t complete comeback in loss to Lehigh

MBB15_AlexandraWimley
Freshman guard Cheddi Mosely had 20 points for the Terriers in their loss to Lehigh. PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA WIMLEY/DAILY FREE PRESS

The Boston University men’s basketball team was not able to find its footing until it was too late against Lehigh University Saturday, and suffered a 89-86 defeat at the hands of its conference foe.

The Terriers (8-13, 4-6 Patriot League) were dominated in the first half by the Mountain Hawks (11-10, 5-5 Patriot League) before putting up their most impressive second-half performance of the season.

After being down 45-23 at halftime, BU exploded for 63 second-half points and was one missed buzzer beater 3-pointer from junior guard John Papale away from sending the game overtime.

“Our lack of energy in the first half really cost us. Just effort and focus really put us in a hole,” said BU coach Joe Jones.

This lack of energy showed itself on the scoreboard in the opening half, as Jones’ squad mustered a measly 23 points on 10-of-28 shooting before coming alive.

BU was led Saturday afternoon by sophomore guard Eric Fanning and freshman guard Cheddi Mosely who had 24 and 20 points, respectively.

The team started off the second half with a quick 10-0 run, which cut the Mountain Hawk lead to 12 before a couple exchanged baskets from both sides raised the lead back up to 15 for Lehigh.

BU only had six players play double-digit minutes on the game as Jones opted to go with basically a six-man rotation for the entirety of the contest.

“I thought in the second half of the game, we were making a run, so I sort of stayed with those guys,” Jones said. “That was the best group to go with. Those guys were having some success, especially in the second half.”

This was one of a few runs that BU would make in the half, but Lehigh had a response to every one.

Answering the call for the Mountain Hawks was typically forward Tim Kempton, who was a thorn in the Terriers’ side all day. He finished with 25 points to go along with nine rebounds.

The Mountain Hawks were also efficient from long range as they hit 57.1 percent of their 3-point attempts. Also, Lehigh effectively shared the ball, posting 24 assists on 29 made field goals. In comparison, the Terriers had just 15 assists on 31 made field goals.

The final and most effective run for BU came in the game’s closing minutes when the team’s full-court press began to take effect and the Mountain Hawks made mistakes that allowed the Terriers back in.

“Pressing helped us. We’re not really a pressing team so to speak,” Jones said. “In that situation, we kind of had to go after them. They got a little passive in the press, and we were able to get some turnovers that turned into baskets.”

The game looked to be over as Lehigh had an 11-point lead with 1:50 remaining, but BU continued to claw back, and free-throw shooting, a usual weakness for the Terriers, turned into a great asset.

In that stretch, the Terriers hit all six of their attempted free throws and were 16-of-17 from the charity stripe in the second half.

Down six points with 29 seconds remaining, sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson missed a 3-pointer, but it was corralled by junior forward Justin Alston who gave the ball right back to Hankerson who drilled a three to make it 87-84.

The Terriers were then forced to foul guard Kahron Ross, who, in the last minute of the game, was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line and finished the day with a double-double.

After Ross made his two shots, Fanning was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit two out of three free throw attempts to cut the deficit to three points. Lehigh guard Brandon Alston then proceeded to miss his two attempts from the free throw line, which gave Papale the chance to tie the game on his missed 3-pointer.

This game came as a role reversal from the teams’ first meeting earlier this year.

In their previous matchup on Jan. 3 at Agganis Arena, BU was victorious by a score of 75-56, including having a 37-24 lead at halftime.

Jones said each team had basically flipped sides from the last time they met.

“They [Lehigh] were kind of like what we were like today,” Jones said. “That was a team that had just beaten Arizona State [University] recently, and they were still a young, inexperienced team, and I thought they came out a little flat, and we played with more energy. Today we played with less energy than them early, and that’s why we got down by so much early [in the game].”

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