Men’s Basketball: Terriers Earn First Road Win at Navy

By: Matt Doherty

The Boston University men’s basketball team used a season-high 19 steals to cruise to a 71-53 victory over Navy Thursday night in Annapolis to improve to 3-0 in league play.

Fifth-year senior Justin Alston scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

Cedric Hankerson and Will Goff each had 12 points on four three-pointers to pace the Terriers from behind the arc.

With the score sitting at 38-30 in the early moments of the second half, Goff knocked down three consecutive triples to open up the Terrier lead for good. BU extended the lead to as high as 29 in the second half.

Once again though, it was the BU defense that propelled them to victory as they forced 27 turnovers on the night. The team’s 19 steals were two shy of a school record set in 1989.

“I was pleased with the defensive effort… we played hard and unselfishly,” Jones said. “Our hands were active and we did a great job of anticipating passes.”

After struggling with rebounding and turnovers in the first half of the game, the Terriers completely dominated in both facets during the second half, finishing with 20 assists as a team.

BU is now 3-0 in conference play for the third time in the last four years. It has been the defensive effort that has enabled the hot start in conference play as BU has allowed an average of 56 PPG in the winning streak after allowing 74 PPG in non-conference play.

They are now one of two unbeaten teams in the PL alongside Bucknell and will go for 4-0 on Sunday at Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 pm.