Men’s Basketball: Terriers Take Down Loyola Greyhounds in Close Matchup

Featured image by Matthew Wuschke

By Kaan Oguz

Boston University Men’s Basketball (14-14, 8-7 PL) won against Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (10-16, 5-10 PL) in a close game by 68-66 and extended their undefeated streak at Case Gymnasium. Four days after the two overtime game against Colgate University, the Terriers won another game at home by two points. 

After 15 games has passed in the Patriot League, Boston University has swept all of their 8 home games while they have yet to win away. On Feb. 1, two teams played where Greyhounds, the host team, won with 69-67 – a very similar score to this game. 

The second meeting of the teams was also a thriller. The lead has never gone to double digits for both sides; the match was always in the middle from the tipoff to the last shot. Like the ending of the last game against Colgate, Kyrone Alexander was again the player under the spotlight. He scored the game-winner two games in a row. Alexander is the most important factor for Terriers to survive in clutch moments of the games.

As mentioned before, the game was so balanced from the start. Except for a tie at 28 in 3:54 left in the first half and approximately a minute between 5:43 and 4:33, the Terriers were on the lead the entire time. Loyola Maryland, however, never gave up the trailing distance. The first half ended with a three-point lead of Boston University with the score 34-31. Kyrone Alexander was the leading scorer for the Terriers.

The second half started similarly; Terriers seemed to be in the pole position for the first 9 minutes. At 11:09 with the 3-point jumper made by Miles Brewster, Boston University found the largest lead of the game with 8 points. The game was going as it would be a relatively comfortable win for the Terriers; however, it did not go as it seemed. While the Terriers were up by 53-45, Loyola Maryland went on a 15-4 run in the next 4 minutes and got up by 60-57 at 5:48. 

From that point till the end, the game went as teams scored mutual points and Loyola Maryland was in the lead when the game entered the last two minutes. Greyhounds were up by 66-63, and that is when Kyrone Alexander came on the stage. At 1:12, Alexander drew an and-one and tied the score in 66. Subsequently, Alexander made the game winner shot with 25 seconds left to the end. By scoring the last 5 points of his team, he led the Terriers another win after the game against Colgate University.

Before their two away game fixtures where they are extremely struggling in this Patriot League season, Boston University secured their second win in a row and exceeded .500 in win record. Loyola Maryland, on the other hand, got their fourth loss in a row and their seventh loss in the last nine games.

Boston University Terriers will continue Patriot League play against American University Eagles on 22th Feb. Saturday at 4pm, with streaming available in ESPN+.