Men’s Basketball: Bucknell defeats BU with second-half run

By Hannah Yoshinaga 

Despite maintaining a lead through the first half of play, BU men’s basketball dropped its regular-season finale to Bucknell 89-78 Saturday afternoon after slipping in the second period.

The Terriers (20-11, 11-7 PL) finish third in the Patriot League standings, which matches them up with Loyola Maryland for the conference quarterfinals. The Bison (8-22, 5-13) tie with American for the worst record in the conference; they draw Lafayette for the first round of the playoffs.

The Terriers were unable to slow the Bison’s offense in the second half, allowing Bucknell to shoot 59.09% from the floor and go 23-of-27 on free throws during the period.

The Bison’s scoring run in the second half included a 19-4 stretch midway through the half and another 10-1 run to break a 63-63 tie with the Terriers.

BU’s own offense also slowed drastically during the period. The Terriers shot only 36.84% after making more than half of their shots in the first, connecting on just four three-pointers during the final 20 minutes.

Fifth-year guard Javante McCoy led the Terriers with 24 points and three assists, along with four rebounds, after shooting 10-of-20 from the field. Fifth-year center Sukhmail Mathon finished with 17 points and reached 1,000 career points.

Mathon’s game-leading 13 rebounds gave BU an advantage on the boards, where it led Bucknell 38-29.

While the Terriers effectively limited Bison’s Xander Rice on the court, the junior guard had no trouble getting to the line and taking advantage of free scoring opportunities. Rice went 11-of-13 from the charity stripe, and his 11 free-throw points were more than all but six players from both teams scored during the game.

Rice finished with a team-leading 19 points. Guard Andrew Funk, a longtime pest for BU’s defense, went 6-for-15 to end with 15 points.

The Bison bench outscored the Terrier reserves 27-12, thanks in part to center Alex Timmerman’s 13-point performance.

The loss is BU’s first loss to Bucknell since Feb. 9, 2019, when the Terriers fell 82-76 to the Bison on the road.

BU’s postseason begins Thursday at home against Loyola. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.