Nov. 19, 2007

Box Score

BOSTON - The Boston University men's basketball team could not overcome a lack of rebounding, as Northeastern claimed a 65-58 victory in Case Gym on Monday evening. The Huskies (1-2) grabbed 42 rebounds to BU's (1-3) 35, including 18 offensive boards, scoring 14 second-chance points.

Sophomores Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.), Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass.), Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine) and red-shirt junior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass.) all scored in double figures for the Terriers. Lowe and Wolff totaled 12 points apiece, while Strong and Brittain each scored 10. Brittain earned America East Player of the Game honors for the second straight contest. Chaisson Allen led all scorers with 20.

The Terriers came out of the break and earned their first tie of the game, 25-25, on a 3-pointer from Wolff at 19:22. Wolff tied the game again at 27 after hitting a driving jumper in the lane at 17:39. Northeastern moved out to an eight-point lead, 35-27, on a mid-range jumper by Nkem Ojougboh at 14:05, but BU kept fighting - producing a 6-0 run that pulled the Terriers to within two, 37-35 at 10:28, on a pair of free throws by Lowe after he was fouled hard attempting a put-back. The Huskies stayed just in front of the Terriers, out-rebounding BU 8-4 on the way to extending their advantage to double-digits at 4:20.

BU out-shot NU 38.2 percent (21-for-55) to 37.9 percent (22-for-58) and limited the Huskies to 20.0 percent from the 3-point line (5-for-25) for the game.

Northeastern gave BU trouble with a 2-3 zone defense to start, forcing the Terriers to shoot from long-range. BU went 4-for-10 from the 3-point line in the first half, while limiting the Huskies to 11.8 percent from three (2-for-18). NU took an early 2-0 lead on a layup by Manny Adako just 34 seconds in the game and ran out to the Huskies' largest lead of the first half, 18-9, on a three by Matt Janning. The Terriers fought hard and inched their way back to be down just two, 24-22, with 44 seconds before the half on a 3-point by Sirutis. BU had a chance at the final shot of the first frame after junior Marques Johnson (Hazlet, N.J.) fought for a rebound and earned the Terriers a change of possession with seven seconds left. But the Terriers' 3/4-quart heave fell short.

Boston University got solid efforts out of sophomore Valdas Sirutis (Gargzdai, Lithuania) and junior Max Gotzler (Weilheim, Germany). Sirutis scored five points and added a team-best six rebounds. Gotzler also tallied five points and added four rebounds.

BU returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 25 when the Terriers face Marshall for the first time in program history at 2 p.m. in the Cam Henderson Center.