{"id":39838,"date":"2024-01-04T12:56:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T17:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=39838"},"modified":"2024-01-04T12:57:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T17:57:02","slug":"mens-basketball-bu-suffers-crushing-loss-to-navy-in-patriot-league-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2024\/01\/04\/mens-basketball-bu-suffers-crushing-loss-to-navy-in-patriot-league-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Basketball: BU suffers crushing loss to Navy in Patriot League opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Featured image by Helen\u00a0<\/em>Gui<\/i><\/p>\n

By Henry Dinh-Price<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

94 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

BU led for a whopping 94 percent of their Patriot League opener against the Navy Midshipmen, but when the final buzzer sounded it was Navy (5-7, 1-0 PL) who celebrated an improbable 62-60 victory over the Terriers (5-9, 0-1 PL).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading by double digits with nine minutes remaining, the Terriers looked poised to open conference play with a win and earn two consecutive victories for the first time this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But BU\u2019s offense fell flat down the stretch, making just two of its last 12 field goals in a brutal loss on Wednesday night in Annapolis, MD.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a hard time manufacturing good shots. You know, especially in the last eight minutes of the game we struggled to get good looks, and then when we got them we didn\u2019t make them,\u201d BU head coach Joe Jones said postgame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a 3-3 tie in the opening minutes, Navy trailed all of the first half, with the Terriers stretching their largest lead to 12. At halftime, Navy was down by 6.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Midshipmen cut the BU lead to 1 point five minutes into the second half when junior guard Mac MacDonald hit back-to-back 3s. Jones called timeout to regroup, as Navy inched as close as they had been since the earliest stages of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

BU responded after the timeout. Freshman forward Matai Baptiste hit a corner three and junior guard Ben Palacios connected on a midrange jumper to bring BU\u2019s lead back to six.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Five made free throws, four from senior forward Anthony Morales, added to the 10-0 BU run, giving the Terriers an 11-point lead with 11 minutes remaining.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This should have been it. After Navy got so close to taking their first lead, BU\u2019s immediate 10-0 response should have put the Midshipmen to bed. It didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be able to put the game away,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe had a hard time just executing on both ends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The two teams traded baskets for the following two minutes, with BU still up by 11 with nine minutes remaining. But then the Terrier offense went cold.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU scored just one point over the next four and a half minutes, a free throw by sophomore forward Nico Nobili.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the end of the scoring drought, BU was no longer the team in front.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A 12-1 Navy run gave the Midshipmen a 52-51 lead with under five minutes remaining, their first lead of the night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading the comeback for Navy was MacDonald, who scored 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half, and sophomore guard Austin Benigni, who scored 14 of his 22 after the halftime break.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMacDonald hurt us with a couple of shots and then Benigni made some tough layups, and that was the difference,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Navy took a one point lead, BU regained their advantage, and stretched their lead to three when junior guard Ethan Okwuosa drove through the lane and finished with a left-handed layup. His basket gave the Terriers a 57-54 lead with 3:14 left.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This, however, would be the last made field goal for BU.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(Navy) did a good job of going zone and man and mixing it up,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe have to do a good job of understanding what we\u2019re in. I thought because they were going back and forth, we weren\u2019t in any type of offensive rhythm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For the game, the Terriers shot just 34 percent (19-for-56) from the field and 25 percent from three (6-for-24).<\/span><\/p>\n

As BU failed to score late, Navy clawed back and tied the game at 57 with three made free throws, one from MacDonald and two from Benigni.<\/span><\/p>\n

And with the game hanging in the balance, it was Benigni who came up clutch for Navy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He got an on-ball screen and drove past the slower sophomore forward Otto Landrum for a layup to give the Midshipmen a 59-57 lead with 30 seconds remaining.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBenigni hurt us on the ball screen, and then penetration,\u201d Jones said. \u201cHe kind of took over.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers had a chance to tie on the following possession. Palacios was fouled in the paint with 10.5 seconds on the clock and two free throws awaiting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He crucially missed the first attempt, before knocking down the second.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Forced to foul, the Terriers sent Benigni to the line. He hit both to extend Navy\u2019s lead to three points, 61-58.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the following possession, senior guard Miles Brewster brought the ball down the court for the Terriers. With BU needing three points, Navy elected to foul Brewster intentionally, sending him to the free-throw line for two shots with 4.6 seconds left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brewster connected on both free throws, trimming the deficit back to one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And on Navy\u2019s ensuing inbounds pass, BU had the best chance they could ever hope for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Navy looked for an outlet, Okwuosa knocked the inbounds pass away and Palacios came up with a steal right underneath the basket.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But as Palacios went up with the layup, he lost his grip of the basketball, sending it careening into the bottom of the backboard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire BU bench stood in disbelief, hands on their heads, as they watched a golden opportunity slip away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked like we just missed it,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTough one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

BU fouled at the end of the play, sending Navy\u2019s junior guard Lysander Rehnstrom to the free-throw line with just 1.4 seconds remaining. He knocked down the first shot, to extend Navy\u2019s lead to 62-60, before missing the second.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Off the rebound, BU only had time for a three-quarter court heave from Morales, which came up well short.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers had a plethora of chances but couldn\u2019t get it done.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inexperience has been the story all season for a BU team that lost all five starters from last year. Unfortunately, that inexperience showed down the stretch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was really the first time we were in a close game all year, and I thought we were just a little antsy, a little unsure of ourselves,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before this loss, all of BU\u2019s contests had been decided by eight or more points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Inexperience, however, cannot continue to be the story for the Terriers if they want to make any noise in the Patriot League this season. These are the games BU needs to win.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a double-digit lead in the second half on the road. I thought we outplayed them for most of the game,\u201d Jones said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow we gotta learn how to win.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU will have a chance to earn their first victory of Patriot League play on Saturday when they host Lafayette at Case Gymnasium at 1 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Featured image by Helen\u00a0Gui By Henry Dinh-Price 94 percent. BU led for a whopping 94 percent of their Patriot League opener against the Navy Midshipmen, but when the final buzzer sounded it was Navy (5-7, 1-0 PL) who celebrated an improbable 62-60 victory over the Terriers (5-9, 0-1 PL).\u00a0 Leading by double digits with nine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23098,"featured_media":35771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1026,1027,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23098"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39839,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39838\/revisions\/39839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}