Men’s Basketball: All-around effort gives BU dominant win over Sacred Heart
Featured image by Jacob Ireland
By Brendan Galvin
After five straight losses away from home, the Boston University men’s basketball team finally picked up a road win on Saturday afternoon, defeating Sacred Heart University 70-49.
It was another slow start for both teams, as they combined to start 1-for-6 from behind the arc and 2-for-10 from the field in the first five minutes.
The Terriers (3-5) were the first to flip the switch, though, jumping out to a 14-5 lead eight minutes into the first half.
That lead did not last long, as the Pioneers (4-5) answered quickly with a 15-0 run, taking momentum late into the half.
The Terriers went more than seven minutes without a point, and it looked like BU would be on their way to their sixth consecutive road loss to open the campaign.
However, they were able to right the ship in the last four minutes of the first half, trailing by as much as seven points but ending the half ahead by one. An 8-0 run headlined by a converted and-one by sophomore forward Otto Landrum (9 points, four rebounds, four assists) and a three from freshman guard Kyrone Alexander (8 points, five rebounds, two assists) gave the Terriers momentum going into the break.
“We were able to put a few more fresher bodies in, and then as the game wore on, we were able to take some punches and then give more punches because we’re a little fresher,” BU head coach Joe Jones said.
Those punches came during a dominant second half from the Terriers in which they outscored Sacred Heart 44-24.
After only shooting 3-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first half, BU answered with a stark contrast-shooting performance in the second half, connecting on 8-of-17 shots from deep.
A 13-0 run midway through the second half gave BU a 16-point lead with less than six minutes left in the game, one they would not look back on.
The late effort was headlined by a poster dunk by freshman wing Matai Baptiste (12 points, two assists, two steals) to give the Terriers a 20-point lead, but the all-around success from the inexperienced BU squad pushed them over the edge.
The team benefited from nine different players contributing to the scoring department, six of whom scored at least eight points.
“I don’t believe we are a team that has a guy or a couple of guys that are going to carry us,” Jones said. “It’s about the numbers and trying to put pressure on people with the number of guys that we can play.”
That’s exactly what the Terriers were able to do, whether it was guards like senior Miles Brewster (8 points, six rebounds, five assists), junior Ben Palacios (8 points), or Alexander knocking down 3-pointers, or forwards like Landrum and Baptiste controlling the paint. The balanced attack made BU successful on Saturday and will help them succeed in the future.
“I would love to lean on a guy like Javonte [McCoy], Max Mahoney, Jonas [Harper], or Walter [White], I knew those guys were my core guys,” Jones said. “This is the hard part, who’s playing when, and who’s playing with who, and that won’t be easy.”
As the team returns home to take on the University of Maine on Wednesday night, the solution to the young team’s growing pains may have been found as BU picked up its first road win of the season.
“Sometimes you need to win to feel like you’re good enough, and you can’t just have your coaches telling you. You got to feel it yourself,” Jones said. “Tonight, they were able to make a breakthrough, and hopefully, next time we go on the road, they feel a little more confident that we can get the job done.”