Men’s Basketball: Terriers Inch Their Way Closer to an Even Record After Defeating Howard
Featured image by Elyse Paugh
By Aniya Sumner
Boston University Men’s Basketball (3-4, 0-0 PL) claimed their second win at UMBC’s multi-team event in a hard fought battle against the two-time defending MEAC champion, the Howard Bison (3-3, 0-0 MEAC), with a score of 69-62.
“Just an unbelievable effort from our guys,” Head Coach Jon Jones said in an interview. “Obviously, Howard did not have to play yesterday; we had to play, and to come back and win without the rest that [Howard] was able to get is unbelievable.”
Despite the Bison riding on a prior three-game win streak, the Terriers established themselves on the court with a level of physicality and offensive prowess that looked similar to what was shown in the 58-60 loss the team took on Tuesday night against Wagner.
However, freshman guard Azmar Abdullah made sure Sunday afternoon’s result would be different, scoring 5 out of the team’s 13 made three-pointers–a new high for the team.
“[Azmar Abdullah] gives you something that a lot of people don’t have at this level, and that’s a guy that is a shot maker,” Coach Jones said. “He can make different shots, he’s really confident, he can get his shot off quickly, and he can make tough ones.”
Abdullah’s 21-point performance matched the season high which was set by sophmore guard Kyrone Alexander in an earlier win against Dartmouth. Both a finisher and a facilitator in the game, Alexander added much in Sunday’s win, scoring 10 points and crashing the boards to finish with 7 rebounds.
BU started the game with strong offensive execution, building a 26-21 lead by halftime.
Howard’s Marcus Dockery, who scored a team-high 17 points in the game, helped the Bison battle back in the second half, taking away the Terriers’ lead at 46-47 with less than eight minutes left in the half.
“They weren’t going to give it to us, and that’s the thing; I really feel great about winning this game, because we had to be tough to win,” Coach Jones said.
BU responded to Howard’s efforts with composure, reclaiming the lead with critical contributions in the paint from senior forward Malcolm Chimezie, who had a game-high 10 rebounds and was two points shy of a double-double.
BU’s defense stepped up when it mattered most, forcing key stops to fend off Howard’s comeback attempts. The Terriers capitalized on the Bison’s mistakes, scoring 14 points off turnovers (14), all while maintaining a solid 58.33 percent shooting performance from the field in the second half.
A clutch three-pointer from Abdullah in the last 40 seconds of the game would ultimately put the nail in the coffin, along with two last minute free throw attempts from Abdullah and Alexander that secured the 69-62 victory.
“I thought we grew a lot this week, you know obviously counting Tuesday, I thought we grew a lot, and we let one slip away and came back here and fought,” Jones said. “Hopefully this will help our confidence in each other as we move forward.”
The Terriers have a chance to build on this weekend’s momentum and even out their record as they take on Sacred Heart at Case Gym on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. Streaming services will be available on ESPN+.