Nov. 29, 2009
Final Stats | Highlights
BOSTON - The Boston University men's basketball team fell to Harvard, 78-70, on Sunday evening at Case Gymnasium, as the Crimson defeated its second consecutive America East opponent following a win over New Hampshire earlier in the week. Senior captain Jeremy Lin tallied 16 points in the second half to lift Harvard to 5-1 on the season, while the Terriers drop to 2-5.
All five of BU's starters scored in double-figures for the first time since 2004 with America East Player of the Game and junior John Holland falling one rebound short of a double-double at 18 points and nine boards. However, without the services of senior forwards Scott Brittain and Valdas Sirutis along with freshman guard B.J. Bailey due to injury or illness, each one played at least 33 minutes and eventually ran out of gas.
Harvard took advantage of the depleted squad, as the Crimson's bench out-scored BU, 27-2, and helped ignite an 18-6 run in the final 6:30 to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Terriers. With the win, Harvard also extends the series lead to 33-27.
Lin finished with a game-high 19 points, including 10 consecutive points for Harvard in the final five minutes, while Oliver McNally and Keith Wright contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively. Pat Magnarelli recorded nine points and a team-high six boards.
Neither team shot well from beyond the arc with both finishing 5-for-20 (.200), but the Crimson created distance in the end by hitting 23-for-27 (.852) from the charity stripe against the Terriers' 15-for-20 (.750) performance at the line. Harvard also went 13-for-25 (.520) from the field in the second half to finish the game 25-for-55 (.455), while BU ended 25-for-65 (.385).
The first nine minutes of the game were even, as Holland's layup tied the score at 13 with 10:57 remaining at the half. However, Harvard went on a 17-4 run capped by Lin's 3-pointer at 5:37 to give the Crimson its largest lead of the game, 30-17.
The Terriers clawed back and cut the deficit to one, 35-34, on Tunde Agboola's layup following a steal under the basket with 15 seconds, but the Crimson drew a foul at the last second and hit 1-of-2 free throws to take a two-point lead into the locker room.
Similar to Wednesday's Northeastern game, BU quickly tied the game on Holland's layup and eventually built the lead to as high as nine, 54-45, off a 3-pointer by Holland at 13:25. The Terriers started the half 9-for-13 (.692), with Carlos Strong contributing nine of his 13 points in the game during the first seven minutes of action.
Harvard did not falter though despite the run and cut the deficit to one possession five times with BU answering on each occasion. However, BU's cold shooting following the hot start and ten turnovers in the second half came back to hurt the Terriers.
After Lin hit two free throws at 4:53 to bring the Crimson within one following a BU turnover and foul, Corey Lowe missed a 3-pointer and Lin hit his own seconds later to give Harvard the lead for good, 65-64, at 4:30.
Neither team scored a basket for the next three minutes, until Lin made two free throws at 1:51 to push the lead to three. The Crimson then put the game away with two consecutive steals leading to a layup and a dunk by Lin.
The Terriers had one less turnover, 16-17, and had the edge in rebounds, 39-35, but went 4-for-20 (.200) from the field in the final 13 minutes for the loss.
After splitting the last two games with cross-town rivals Northeastern and Harvard, the Terriers will now have the chance to play No. 13 Connecticut on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at the Hartford XL Center with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
