Seymour Leads Terriers Over Huskies in America East Opener
December 9, 2000 | Men's Basketball
BOSTON, Mass. - Sophomore forward Paul Seymour (Liverpool, NY) scored a career-high 26 points and hit several clutch three-pointers to lead the Boston University men's basketball team to a 79-72 win at Northeastern in the America East opener for both schools on Saturday (Dec. 9).
Seymour hit 9-of-17 shots from the field, 6-of-9 from beyond the arc for the Terriers, in a game broadcast locally on WLVI Channel 56. It was B.U.'s fourth-straight win over the Huskies. The Terriers now lead the all-time series, 62-59.
B.U. started out like a different team than the one that lost to Harvard on December 5 as Seymour and freshman Ryan Butt (Lancaster, PA) hit baskets the first two times down the court.
Northeastern, which shot 52 percent in the first half, grabbed a 6-4 lead 2:23 into the contest on a layup by Charles Cranford, who had 16 points. The rest of the half remained tight-knit as neither team could break out for more than a four-point lead.
The Huskies finally went on a small 7-1 run towards the end of the half, fueled by a Marcus Blossom three-pointer to give Northeastern a 31-24 lead with 18 seconds to go in the first half. After head coach Dennis Wolff called a 30-second time out with 11 seconds left, Seymour hit his first big shot, draining a three as time expired to cut the deficit to 31-27 at the half.
Cranford hit a three to open the second half for Northeastern, but the Terriers battled back and pulled even, 49-49 on a three-pointer by Matt Turner (West Haven, CT) with 10:48 left in the game.
Both teams traded leads over the next three minutes until Jerome Graham (North Minneapolis, MN), who had 11 points off the bench, hit a pair of free throws to give the Terriers a 57-56 lead with 7:50 to go. B.U. would never trail again.
Seymour got the bench, and the B.U. faithful who made the trek across town, on their feet with another key three to put B.U. up eight, 64-56, with 5:06 to go. B.U. sank 8-of-12 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
The Terriers, who are now 4-2, 1-0 in the conference, shot 46 percent for the game and hit 80 percent of their free throws. B.U. was 13-for-24 (54.2 percent) from the floor, 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) from three-point range and 21-for-26 from the line (80.8 percent) in the second half.
Head coach Dennis Wolff was pleased with his team's second-half performance, perhaps its strongest of the season.
"If you look at how we played in the first half at Harvard and how we played in the second half tonight, it was like two different teams," said Wolff.
Wolff, who moved into sole possession of second place on the Terrier coaches all-time win list with 97, was also pleased with the play of Graham, who was perfect on the night, hitting 3-for-3 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line.
Butt was the other Terriers in double figures with 14 points, hitting 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.
Seymour's previous career-high was 24 points, set at UNH on Feb. 24, 2000. His six threes were one shy of the club mark of seven held by Mark Daly (twice) and Billy Beal.
B.U. heads to Maine on Tuesday, December 12 for a game with the Black Bears at 7:30 p.m. before returning for its' home opener against UMass at Walter Brown Arena on Thursday, December 14 at 7 p.m.
