Jan. 30, 2008

Box Score

ORONO, Maine - The Boston University men's basketball team got off to a fast start and held off Maine down the stretch as the Terriers (6-14, 3-5 America East) took home a 56-49 win over the Black Bears (6-15, 2-6 AE) Wednesday evening in Alfond Arena.

BU started the game on a 16-5 run, creating turnovers and forcing Maine into five straight empty possessions as the Black Bears went scoreless for almost five minutes. The Terriers went into the half leading, and despite UM tying the game three times in the second half, BU stayed strong for the win.

Sophomore forward Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) went 7-for-11 from the floor to score a career-high 20 points. Brittain also went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line and swatted two shots to earn America East Player of the Game honors. Freshman forward John Holland (Bronx, N.Y.) tallied 15 points and seven rebounds. Mark Socoby led the Black Bears with 19 points, and Junior Bernal followed with 10 points.

The game stayed tight at the start of the second, and Maine tied it at 35 on a jumper in the lane by Bernal at 15:41 after a 9-4 run. He came alive at the start of the final period, scoring eight of the Black Bears' first 13 points of the half. Brittain drew his second charge of the game at 11:55 on Brian Andre. The Terriers earned a 45-39 cushion after Andre fouled out after being called for a technical at 10:23. Holland made the accompanying free throws and Brittain sunk a jumper.

A 3-pointer by red-shirt sophomore Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind.) pushed BU's lead to 50-41 at 5:43. The Black Bears scrapped the rest of the way, climbing to within two, 50-48, after Sean McNally dropped in a lay up. But Brittain and Holland each made a pair of foul shots, sandwiching a wide-open lay up by sophomore guard Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass.) after a Brittain steal, to ice the victory for BU.

The Terriers went 13-for-14 from the free throw line as a team and shot 42.6 percent (20-for-47) for the game. BU's tight defense caused a season-high 21 turnovers and scored 15 points off those miscues. The Terrier bench out-scored the Black Bears' 13-2 and BU had 26 points in the paint to UM's 20.

Holland scored BU's first five points and the Terriers took an 11-5 lead on a lay up by red-shirt junior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass.) at 15:30 after at steal. Boston University's defense created early turnovers, which the Terriers capitalized on to take an 16-5 lead when Lowe made his first basket of the game, a 3-pointer from 30 feet. A nearly five-minute Maine scoring drought was broken at 11:30 when McNally drained a three from the top of the key.

The Black Bears' scoring issues seemed to transfer to BU as the Terriers saw that 16-8 advantage dwindle until UM tied the game at 18 on a Socoby jumper at the shot clock buzzer. Boston University stayed just ahead, with sophomore guard Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine) completing the three-point play at 2:34 to give the Terriers a 27-21 edge. BU took a 31-26 lead into the locker room after a two-foot lay up by Brittain.

BU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2 at New Hampshire at 4 p.m.