Men’s Basketball: Terriers outshoot Lafayette for 81-62 road win

By Hannah Yoshinaga

Boston University men’s basketball bounced back from an early deficit against Lafayette College to secure an 81-62 road victory over the Leopards Wednesday night.

The Terriers have now won three straight, their longest such winning streak of the conference season thus far.

Fifth-year guard Javante McCoy shot 8-of-13 from the field to post a game-leading 17 points, along with two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Fifth-year center Sukhmail Mathon and senior forward Walter Whyte controlled the boards with nine rebounds apiece, in addition to putting up 16 points and 13 points, respectively.

BU had a significant advantage against Lafayette from the three-point line, where the Terriers shot 45.5% compared to just 19% from the Leopards.

Lafayette was also unable to match BU’s depth on the bench, scoring just six bench points all game long. The Terriers’ reserves recorded 21.

The Leopards were able to unseat BU early in the match, building up a 12-2 lead early in the period and staying in front until midway through the first half. For the first five and a half minutes of the contest, the Terriers’ lone bucket was a jumper from senior forward Fletcher Tynen.

However, shots from the paint by Mathon and threes from Whyte, sophomore forward Anthony Morales and sophomore guard Caelan Jones allowed the Terriers to tie the game up and take the lead.

While the Leopards tied the score again with five minutes remaining in the period, BU outscored them 10-4 in the final two minutes to head into the break with a 37-28 lead.

The Terriers continued to build their lead up in the second half, with the Leopards failing to get production from any player other than Leo O’Boyle in the first five minutes.

BU led by as much as 25 points later in the period before closing out the win.

Kyle Jenkins, one of Lafayette’s leading shooters this season and the team’s top scorer against BU with 15 total points, managed only four points during the half. Neal Quinn trailed with 13 points, but struggled to handle the ball and finished with five turnovers.

The loss gives the Leopards a 2-4 league record, good for seventh place in the conference. The Terriers sit one spot above them with a 5-4 record.

BU returns to Case Gym Friday to take on the first-place Colgate Raiders. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.