Men’s Basketball: Terriers struggle defensively, drop back-and-forth battle with Holy Cross

By Hannah Yoshinaga

Focus and intensity were key words for Boston University men’s basketball Monday night against Holy Cross — but seemed to be missing during some important moments of the 75-70 loss, according to head coach Joe Jones.

The Terriers (15-9, 6-5 PL) fell to the Crusaders (5-15, 3-5 PL) in a back-and-forth battle they never led by more than six points, despite coming off a win versus top-seeded Colgate Friday.

“We had to be better to win,” Jones said. “It wasn’t the worst game that we played, but not up to the level that you gotta have to be consistent and win consistently.”

BU had plenty of solid individual offensive performances, including a 14-point double-double from fifth-year center Sukhmail Mathon and an 18-point showing by fifth-year guard Javante McCoy.

The problem was that the Crusaders had plenty to offer on offense as well, challenging Terrier defenders on high ball screens and forcing their way into the lane on numerous drives.

Holy Cross rookie guard Kyrell Luc was a particular bother for BU, finishing with 24 points, four assists and four rebounds on 66.7% shooting. Bo Montgomery contributed 16 points and Malcolm Townsel went 5-for-5 from the field to tack on 12.

The Terriers stayed in front for much of the game’s early minutes but could never build a comfortable lead.

The Crusaders went on a run of their own around the eight-minute mark, punctuated by a driving layup from Luc that gave Holy Cross a 25-23 advantage and forced BU to call a timeout. However, McCoy quickly responded with two shots from deep to swing the score back in BU’s favor.

Holy Cross eventually regained a one-point advantage with a minute remaining, but a layup by McCoy and a towering dunk from sophomore guard Caelan Jones secured a 36-33 halftime edge for the Terriers.

The Crusaders were able to slowly eat away at BU’s lead in the second, eventually tying up the game on a three-pointer from Townsel. Though quiet in the first half, Townsel put up two back-to-back threes that allowed Holy Cross to take the lead early in the second period.

“I thought those two baskets really, really kind of helped their confidence and their momentum,” Jones said.

The Crusaders’ lead grew to as much as six points before the Terriers again tied the score. After several more minutes of lead changes, back-to-back shots by Montgomery and Luc gave Holy Cross a four-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.

With BU down 73-70, senior guard Jonas Harper had a chance to even the score but missed the potential game-tying three.

“I knew what we were up against, and I do think we’re a very good team,” Jones said. “And I thought we were really going to have to really want this one tonight. And [Holy Cross] wanted it more and they played like it.”

Jones credits the Crusaders for the hard-fought win but wants his team to embody more of a growth-focused mindset moving forward.

“I think we need to be able to just think about getting better and improving,” Jones said. “I think we need to be able to handle hard conversations and criticism, constructive criticism that can help us improve and honesty with them and kind of spilling it out. And they have to be able to handle that and accept that and try to get better.”

The Terriers face Lehigh on the road Saturday at 2 p.m.