Men’s Basketball: Terriers Edged Out in Conference Battle by Loyola
Featured image by Spirit Veron
By Austin Rayamajhi
Boston University Men’s Basketball (11-12, 5-5 PL) took on the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (9-12, 4-6 PL) in a Saturday afternoon battle, losing a heartbreaker 67-69.
“It was a tough one for us,” said BU Head Coach Joe Jones. “I thought they were very comfortable running their stuff and then we tried to adjust and make things a little harder. I thought we were able to do that…we had a chance to take control of the game.”
Both teams got off to a fast start, scoring on their first couple of possessions. The game looked to be a high scoring one as the teams continued to trade baskets for the first 10 minutes of the game. The largest lead for either team was a measly five points half way through the first half.
Loyola began to pull away as freshman guard Braeden Speed caught fire. Speed, who averages 8.3 points per game, scored nine points in the first 11 minutes of the game. The lead grew to 10 for the Greyhound’s as their leading scorer, Senior center Milos Ilic, splashed a three with eight minutes left in the first half.
The Terriers were able to respond to the Loyola run with a run of their own. Their defense locked in as they held the Greyhound’s scoreless for five and a half minutes of game time, going on a 12-0 run to take the lead with two minutes left in the half.
Loyola was able to take the lead heading into the half. BU’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander, led both teams with nine points at the half. However, the difference in the first part of the game was the shooting between the teams. The Greyhounds shot 50% from 3, going 6-12, while the Terriers shot a poor 1-8 from 3.
“When you go 3-18 from 3 and they go 9-22, it is hard to win that game,” said Jones. “We didn’t make shots.”
The second half was intense as both teams knew what was at stake. Loyola needed a win for a chance to move out of the bottom two spots in the Patriot League, while the Terriers had a chance to move into the top two spots of the conference with a win. The largest lead at any point was six and there were six lead changes between the two teams.
Crunch time started with BU down two before sophomore guard Jacob Theodosiou hit a big three to give the Greyhounds a five point lead. BU responded to this, going down by two with a minute and 22 seconds left in the game. After a steal from Alexander, he had a chance to tie the game on the line with 40 seconds left. However, he went 1 for 2, and BU was down 1.
Sophomore forward Jordan Stiemke, Loyola’s 2nd leading scorer, went to the line and calmly drilled two free throws. On the ensuing BU possession, Stiemke fouled senior forward Malcolm Chimezie. He went to the line and went 1 for 2, meaning BU was down by 2 with 26 seconds left.
After another foul, Stiemke had a chance to ice the game for the Greyhounds. However, he missed the front end of a 1 and 1, and gave BU hope to tie or win the game. On the final possession, sophomore guard Michael McNair was forced to take a tough three point shot for the win and missed.
“We’ll be ready Wednesday night. We’ll be ready,” said Jones.
BU will return home to play Navy at 7 P.M. on Wednesday, with the game available to stream on ESPN+.