Men’s Basketball: Depleted Terriers Outlast Lafayette in Overtime Win
By Brendan Galvin
An overtime game was the last thing the Boston University Men’s Basketball team needed on Thursday night, with leading veterans, graduate forward Walter Whyte and senior forward Nevin Zink, out due to COVID protocol, and junior forward Anthony Morales out with an ankle injury.
Nonetheless, the depleted Terriers (9-7, 2-1 PL) outlasted Lafayette College in overtime, 73-69.
After going down 10 points with less than five minutes in the game, the Terriers held the Leopards (2-14, 1-2 PL) scoreless for the rest of regulation, ending the second half on a 10-0 run to send the game to overtime after a score from senior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts with 12 seconds left.
“It’s still a long game, you just have to get a couple of stops to change the momentum of the game and we were able to do that,” BU Head Coach Joe Jones said.
After another hot start for BU, leading 10-2 after the first four minutes of the game, the team cooled off quickly yet again. Lafayette went on an 11-0 run of their own and led 29-28 at the half.
The Leopards came out of the gates hot, connecting on seven threes in the first half, shooting 40% from deep.
They were not without their own depth issues either, with their leading scorer Leo O’Boyle also out of the lineup.
It was an all-around offensive attack for the Terriers, who needed contributions from everyone while their only player averaging double-digit points was out.
The team had four scorers in double digits, with Brittain-Watts scoring 19 points, pulling in four rebounds, and dishing out five assists.
Graduate forward Fletcher Tynen stepped up for the absent Zink with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including three key offensive rebounds, charting his first collegiate double-double.
“I thought [Tynen] set the tone early, with his rebounding and his energy,” Jones said. “He’s just improved so much, he’s just a really good all-around player.”
Junior guards Miles Brewster and Daman Tate scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, including a breakaway dunk from Brewster to give the Terriers the lead with a minute left in overtime.
The comeback win for BU also breaks the streak of nine consecutive overtime losses.
Jones was proud of his team for coming out with a win despite missing two starters. “It was great that we had a chance to play some of those guys. It’s going to be a little funky right now, until we can get everybody back in,” Jones said.
“It’s a great accomplishment for the program to have three of your top nine guys not play and still get the win,” Jones said.
The Terriers will look to build on their two-game conference win streak at American University on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.