Men’s Basketball: BU Survives Against Loyola
By: Chris Lynch
In the most exciting game of the season so far, Boston University battled back from down 12 late in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the Loyola Greyhounds. In overtime, BU survived a contest of wills and free throws, winning 87-84.
Eric Fanning carried the team for the whole game. He scored a career high 37 points, the most since John Holland scored 43 in a 2010 game. He scored 21 points in the first half, and helped BU to a 43-35 halftime lead.
Loyola countered Fanning’s assault with a 21-5 run to open up the second half. They led by as many as 14 points with a 68-54 leas with 8:45 left to play. Jarred Jones led the Greyhounds in scoring and rebounds with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Four other Greyhounds added double digit point totals. Chancellor Barnard and Tyler Hubbard each scored 17 points, Eric Laster scored 13 points and got 9 rebounds, and Andre Walker scored 10 points. Loyola controlled much of the second half because they out rebounded BU 40-26 for the game.
However, they lost control when they lost their touch from the free throw line. Loyola went 8-15 from the free throw line, only 53.3% shooting, including four consecutive missed free throws that could have made it a 14 point game with 5 minutes to play. Instead, BU climbed back into the game behind an offensive explosion from Cheddi Mosely.
Mosely has not practiced in four weeks, according to BU Head Coach Joe Jones, and he had not seen the floor since January 2nd. He scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, including two consecutive three pointers to tie the game at 74-74 with 2:02 to play. Then with 2.2 seconds on the clock, Mosely split a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 76-76. Loyola did not score late, and the teams played a hard overtime period.
Nick Havener got the offense started in overtime with a layup off a long pass from Kyle Foreman. Foreman collected his career high eighth assist on the play, and Havener got all seven of his points in the second half and overtime after he got his fourth foul. Fanning finished his career night with a layup and five free throws. BU won the overtime period from the free throw line. BU made all seven attempts from the free throw line, while Loyola went 3-6 from the line, and Eric Fanning led the way from the charity stripe.
After the game, Loyola Head Coach G.G. Smith sat stunned and didn’t say anything for fifteen seconds in the press conference. He praised the BU guards for their lack of turnovers. BU only turned the ball over 8 times, limiting something that has killed the Terriers so far this season.
Coach Joe Jones echoed Smith’s appraisal of the guard play, and expressed how proud he was of his players after a difficult game. He also explained that he has not talked about the team’s rash of injuries, even after Eric Johnson was added to the list of players out for the year with injuries. Johnson has a broken foot, and that will put more pressure on the Terrier’s healthy players to stay on the floor and stay out of foul trouble, which they failed to do tonight.
Nathan Dieudonne and Nick Havener both fouled out of the game. Eric Fanning explained that he and the team felt shakes when Dieudonne, their defensive anchor, left the game. But he also explained that the team is talented enough to fight back, especially since they frequently have giant comebacks in practice.
BU will travel to Colgate to play the 4-2 Colgate Raiders at 7pm on Wednesday night.