Men’s Basketball: Terrier season ends at Navy despite career-best performance by McCoy

Javante McCoy pulls up against an Army West Point defender Feb. 9, 2022. McCoy tied his career-best with 30 points in the Terriers’ semifinal loss to the Naval Academy on Sunday. JOE EACHUS/ WTBU SPORTS

By Hannah Yoshinaga 

Despite fifth-year guard Javante McCoy tying his career-best point total and willing Boston University men’s basketball to overtime against Navy, the Terriers came up short in the Patriot League Semifinals 85-80 on Sunday.

Navy (21-10, 12-6 PL) advances to a conference finals rendezvous with top-ranked Colgate, which defeated Lehigh 81-61 earlier in the afternoon, while BU (21-12, 11-7 PL) heads into the offseason with many question marks surrounding its graduate- and senior-heavy roster.

McCoy finished with 30 points — matching his previous career-high, recorded March 5, 2019, against Loyola Maryland — on 12-of-24 shooting, along with five rebounds and four assists.

The All-Patriot League First Team honoree showed up in the clutch time and time again for the Terriers, making two threes in the last nine seconds of regulation to force the game into extras and scoring 10 points in overtime.

McCoy wasn’t the only Terrier who had the hot hand from beyond the arc either, as BU shot 43.5% from deep compared to 28% by Navy.

Fifth-year center Sukhmail Mathon also found himself in double-digits with 14 points, while junior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts contributed a career-high 13 from off the bench.

However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the two-headed monster of Navy guards John Carter Jr. and Greg Summers, who each scored 21 points. Navy’s strength in the frontcourt also challenged BU, with the Mids outrebounding the Terriers by 10 and recording six blocks to BU’s two.

The loss of senior forward Walter Whyte to injury, which left BU with just two true forwards, amplified the discrepancy in post play. The loss was a blow to the Terrier offense as well considering Whyte dropped 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Navy built up a multiple-possession lead against BU throughout the first half, leading by as many as nine points with 8:47 remaining.

The Terriers gradually chipped away at the deficit, and a three on the fastbreak by senior guard Jonas Harper later in the period brought BU within one point for the first time since the opening minutes.

Navy outscored BU 5-4 in the last five minutes of the period to close out the low-scoring first half with a 27-23 advantage.

After getting down by seven early in the second, Harper again came through with a much-needed three that tied the score at 30-30. Both teams continued to trade baskets with neither leading by more than five points, and the Terriers eventually took a 40-39 lead on a Brittain-Watts layup with 12:01 left.

While Brittain-Watts and McCoy continued to score for BU, Mids forward Jaylen Walker sank two threes that left Navy with a 48-47 edge. Several more lead changes followed, with Brittain-Watts, Mathon, McCoy and senior forward Fletcher Tynen helping to tie up the score whenever Navy got back in front.

In the final minute of regulation, free throws by Summers and guard Sean Yoder extended Navy’s lead as high as 65-60. Brittain-Watts’ free throws soon thereafter moved the score to 65-62, but Mids forward Tyler Nelson got back on the line to put Navy up 67-62 with 13 seconds remaining.

Navy looked to put the game away but allowed McCoy to successfully launch a shot from deep that reduced BU’s deficit to three points with nine seconds remaining.

The Terriers again sent Yoder to the foul line, but he missed a potentially game-ending free throw to keep the score at 68-65.

On BU’s next possession, McCoy raced up the court, shook his taller and less-nimble defender, forward Richard Njoku, and canned another three to send the Terriers to overtime.

McCoy got the Terriers’ scoring started in overtime with two made free throws, while Summers did the same for Navy with four-straight points.

The Mids took their first major lead via a three by Carter Jr. that put them in front 77-72. Though another McCoy three reduced BU’s deficit to two points moments later, a jumper by Walker quickly increased Navy’s lead back to four with 41 seconds left.

McCoy managed to put away another jumper, but the Terriers were forced to foul and the Mids went 3-for-4 on free throws the rest of the way to secure the victory.

Navy defeated BU in both of the teams’ regular-season matchups this year, though by larger margins of 17 and 12 points.

The game could be the last in a Terrier uniform for McCoy, Mathon, Whyte, Harper, Tynen, and senior guard Garrett Pascoe — giving BU perhaps the most significant roster turnover of any team in the Patriot League heading into next season.

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