Men’s Basketball: Terriers come back in second half to defeat Lafayette 76-60

By Joe Eachus 

In its last home game of the 2021-22 regular season, the Boston University men’s basketball team overcame a hot start by Lafayette to come away with the win 76-60.

The Terriers (20-10, 11-6 PL) posted their first 20-win season since 2013-14 with the victory, while Lafayette (10-18, 7-10 PL) dropped its fourth straight matchup with BU. The Leopards have not defeated BU in more than two years.

Following a lackluster first half in which BU trailed by 10 at some points, the team flipped a switch at halftime to take the lead early in the second and never relinquished it.

“I think our intensity defensively picked up, and a lot of times our offense builds off of our defense… we were in attack mode a bit more,” BU assistant coach Mike Quinn said.

The Terriers were led by senior guard Javante McCoy, who poured in 24 points on 66.7% shooting for his seventh 20-plus point night this season.

Junior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts added a career-high 13 points on 83.3% shooting in 26 minutes off the bench after missing the last two contests with injuries.

“We had to come out here with some energy. We knew this was gonna be an up-and-down team, they like to get out in transition fast and shoot the three-ball,” Brittain-Watts said of the matchup.

Despite allowing Lafayette to build a large lead in the first half, the Terriers came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders, quickly drawing even and taking a lead they would never give back up.

BU shot 67.9% from the field in the second half while holding Lafayette to 32.3% shooting. BU also connected on five of its eight three-point attempts in the second frame.

The Terriers handily won the battle on the glass, grabbing 36 rebounds to the Leopards’ 26. The Leopards did, however, have 15 steals to BU’s seven.

Fifth-year forward Sukhmail Mathon led all players in rebounds with 13, and he added 10 points to score his 15th double-double of the season. BU is 11-4 when Mathon scores a double-double.

BU will take on Bucknell in its regular-season finale on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. in Lewisburg.