Men’s Basketball: Morales leads 18-point comeback as BU earns a thrilling victory at Loyola Maryland

Featured image by Stevie Potter

By Henry Dinh-Price

After 20 minutes, it looked almost out of reach for BU. 

In the first half, the Terriers shot just 8-for-28 from the field, were outscored 24-6 in the paint, had zero second-chance points, and attempted zero free throws. BU was lucky only to be down 33-21 entering the locker room at halftime. 

“It was an ugly first half for us,” BU head coach Joe Jones said. 

That might be an understatement. 

Three minutes into the second half, things got even worse for the Terriers. BU fell behind by 18 points, trailing Loyola Maryland 41-23. 

With 14 minutes remaining, BU was still down by 17, trailing 45-28, and ESPN’s win probability metric gave Loyola Maryland a 98.2 percent chance to prevail. If it wasn’t out of reach at halftime, it certainly felt out of reach then. 

But against all odds, the Terriers (7-10, 2-2 PL) stormed back to defeat the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (3-14, 1-3 PL), 60-58, on Saturday. 

The Terriers ended the game on a 20-4 run to complete their second-half comeback and walk out of Reitz Arena in Baltimore with a hard-fought victory. 

“It’s a great character win to be able to pull it out like we did tonight,” Jones said. “It’s just something that we can build off of.”

BU was dismal in the first half, especially offensively, but it was a different story after halftime. 

The Terriers shot 50 percent (15-for-30) from the field, a product of attacking the rim with much more consistency, scoring 20 points in the paint after halftime. 

“We talked about just trying to play with more force and then trying to get more downhill. I thought we were able to do that,” Jones said.

After falling behind 45-28 with just 14 minutes to mount a comeback, the Terriers went on a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to cut the Greyhounds’ lead to single digits, forcing Loyola head coach Tavaras Hardy to call timeout. 

After the timeout, however, Loyola quickly scored five straight points. A thunderous dunk from senior center Golden Dike (12 points) put the Greyhounds ahead 54-40 with 8:23 remaining. 

The momentum had swung back in Loyola’s favor. 

But a career night from senior forward Anthony Morales led the unlikely comeback for BU.

The Terriers went on a 14-0 run over the next four minutes to fully erase their deficit, with Morales scoring 11 of the 14 points. 

Morales buried three 3-pointers and converted on a layup during the game-tying run. 

On a 3 that cut the deficit to just a point, with 5:43 remaining, Morales launched from so deep that his heels were scraping the edge of Loyola’s center court logo. It didn’t matter. 

“Anthony Morales looked like he was at Beaver Country Day from his high school days. He kind of put us on his back,” Jones said. 

Loyola momentarily regained the lead when sophomore guard Deon Perry (7 points) connected on a floater. 

But Morales answered on the ensuing possession. He drove to the rim and finished through contact for a layup plus the foul. And Morales drained the crucial and-one free throw to put BU ahead 57-56 with just under three minutes remaining. 

 

“I definitely drove a lot more today because I’ve seen them running at me after I’ve hit one or two 3s,” Morales said. “Just trying to get into attack mode.”

Morales’ three-point play gave BU their first lead since the 15:18 mark in the first half. 

Perry recaptured Loyola’s lead once again, this time making two free throws to give the Greyhounds a one-point edge. 

And just as quickly as last time, Morales snatched the lead right back. Morales got a screen from sophomore forward Nico Nobili, dribbled to his left, and fired a 3 from the left wing over the outstretched arm of Loyola’s sophomore guard Tyson Commander. 

Bullseye. 

His 3, with 2:28 on the clock, gave BU a lead they would not relinquish as neither team would score again. 

Morales finished with a career-high 24 points, 19 of which came in the second half, as he carried the Terriers down the stretch. He also added 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. 

“I don’t wanna sound cocky or anything but I just felt like myself again, like how I used to play in high school. Everything was just flowing. I got in rhythm pretty quick, and then the ball just found its way in every time I shot it,” Morales said. 

Morales made his first appearance of the season on December 10th after missing the opening month with a knee injury. Through his first seven games, he averaged just 5.3 points per game on 34.3 percent shooting. 

But on a young team lacking experience, Morales, a senior, stepped up against Loyola when his team needed him most.

His 24 points are the most by any Terrier in a game this season.

“He got into a rhythm and got into a zone, and they all looked good when he released the ball,” Jones said. 

In the final minute, the Terriers relied on Morales again, this time on defense. Loyola threw the ball down low to junior forward Milos Ilic (13 points) as he posted up against Morales. But as he went up for the layup, Morales swatted his shot away. 

“I couldn’t let him score,” Morales said. “I talked to the team in the huddle. I said, ‘We didn’t come back down 20, down whatever we were, to give the game back to them.’”

Thanks to Morales’ dazzling performance, the Terriers earned back-to-back wins for the first time this season. 

“We’ve struggled to string together wins. We’ll win one, we’ll lose a couple, then we’ll win another one,” Morales said. 

But getting over that hump has seemed to give BU an extra ounce of confidence as they continue their Patriot League campaign. It certainly has for Morales. 

“We’re capable of being the toughest team in this league, and that’s what we’re striving to be, and that’s what we’re gonna be,” Morales said. 

Morales and the Terriers will have a chance to back it up on Wednesday when they face Bucknell (5-12, 2-2 PL) at Case Gym on Wednesday at 7 p.m., seeking a three-game win streak. 

Share this: