BU Men’s Basketball: Terriers pick up first conference win against Lafayette

By Celine Cheung

Boston University Men’s Basketball (6-10, 1-2 PL) earned their first Patriot League win in a matchup against Lafayette College (4-12, 1-2 PL) in Easton, Pennsylvania.

“Really happy with the win. Thought our guys stuck to the game plan, 21 assists to 9 turnovers. Just really proud; we shared the ball tonight. I think that’s the third game in a row we’ve had under nine turnovers. We’re trending in the right direction,” BU Head Coach Joe Jones said.

Going into the game, BU had the height advantage, as no one on Lafayette could match the size of Malcolm Chimezie’s 6’8″ height or 7-footer Ben Defty. BU is first in the league in 3-point percentage and number two in the league in field goal percentage, demonstrating their strong shooting outside the paint as well. The Leopards are second in the league for 3-point percentage.

Lots of attention was on Lafayette’s Caleb Williams, the team’s leading scorer with five games scoring 20+ points. Shareef Jackson was another key player to watch at the start of the game, as the freshman was coming off of his NCAA career-high scoring game of 20 points.

After the tipoff, Defty scored first to start the game down low after a bounce pass out of a double team from Chimezie. Junior Terrier guard Michael McNair came off of an off-ball screen and knocked down a jumper from the midrange to add to the Terriers’ strong start. 

After trading back and forth turnovers, Lafayette guard Ryan Pettit spun around defender Chance Gladden in transition to lay it up and in. Chimezie then responded by scoring over two defenders in the paint. 

Leopard junior Mark Butler made a strong cut to the basket, slipping past his defender, and got a nice feed from Malik Rasul for the layup. With a drive and bounce pass from Butler, Andrew Phillips scored another layup for Lafayette to tie the game 8-8. 

McNair quickly replied with a three-pointer. He is first in the Patriot League for threes made and second in the league for three-point percentage at 45%. With a strong rebound, Sam Hughes, who leads the Terriers in three-pointers attempted, passed it out to Donte Tisinger Jr., who made another three. Abdullah added three free throws to bring the score to 17-8. The Terriers went on a 9-0 run before the media timeout.

Wide open, Tisinger scored his second three of the game, giving BU their largest lead of the game at 12 points. After another Leopard layup, McNair responded with his second three of the game off of strong Terrier ball movement. Butler drove in and spun under the hoop to score Lafayette’s 14th point in the paint. Lafayette started their defense in zone but adapted to man soon after. 

With a quick drive past everyone, Butler cut the lead to 13 points. A pair of BU offensive and defensive fouls, Lafayette free throws, and crafty moves swung the momentum to the Leopards’ side towards the end of the first half. Pettit utilized another 360 spin move, bringing the lead down to nine points.

McNair pulled up for a logo three at the end of the halftime, concluding the half with 18 points and giving BU a 42-31 lead. In the first half, BU led with a field goal percentage of 53.8%, as opposed to Lafayette’s 48.3%. They found success in three-pointers, scoring six out of 11 from beyond the arc, a much higher percentage than the Leopards’ zero for eight. The Terriers have taken advantage of their height difference and grabbed 8 more rebounds than Lafayette.

Lafayette opened up the second half with a spin and a midrange jumper by Christian Humphrey-Rembert. With Defty on him, Williams exploited the matchup well and passed it down low to Jackson for an easy shot in the paint. 

Humphrey-Rembert made the first three-pointer for Lafayette of the game with 17:30 left in the second half. A couple possessions later, he knocked down his second triple to bring the lead down to six, forcing BU to call a timeout. Hughes then made his first three of the game, to which Williams answered with another three over Gladden. Tisinger swished in a three and made a stepback jump shot to bring the momentum back in the Terriers’ favor after the Leopards brought the lead to four. 

The Leopards’ effort was relentless, and Humphrey-Rembert scored his tenth point with a fadeaway over 7-footer Defty. However, the BU lead was too large, and Hughes’ three-pointer to break the press all but sealed the Terrier win with less than 3:30 left in regulation. McNair ran through defenders for the bounce pass to Chimezie, who scored his fourth point of the game. Catching McNair time, the junior guard drove in from the baseline for a slam dunk to hammer the win home.

Hughes recorded his first NCAA career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. McNair ended the game with a career high of 29 points. BU won their first league game 83-67. They ended with a field goal percentage of 53.4% and a three-point percentage of 52.6%. BU’s lockdown man defense forced the Leopards to shoot three for 19 beyond the arc the whole game. The Terriers had 24 points off the bench compared to Lafayette’s 11.

BU will face Army West Point at The Roof this Saturday at 1 p.m. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.

“We can just use this as momentum and just continue building off this game. Continue focusing on the right things, especially on the defensive end, and on how we can be efficient on the offensive end. It’s a great feeling,” junior guard Michael McNair said.