Boston University
Bucknell
Men's Basketball Posts 63-53 Victory over Bucknell
December 6, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2009
BOSTON - Sophomore Jake O'Brien scored 17 points, including 12 in the first half, to help the Boston University men's basketball team post a 63-53 victory over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon at Agganis Arena. The Terriers jumped out to an early 20-6 lead and never trailed in the contest to improve to 3-6 on the season.
Seniors Corey Lowe and Carlos Strong each scored 11 points off the bench for the Terriers and junior John Holland chipped in with 10. O'Brien added a game-best eight rebounds while Lowe and fellow senior Tyler Morris registered game highs in assists and steals with six and five, respectively.
The Bison, which fell to 4-6 on the year, got a 17-point performance from junior G.W. Boon. Senior Patrick Behan added 12 points for the visitors, who shot just 31.5 percent from the floor.
For the first time of the season, the Terriers entered the locker room at the half ahead, 32-16. Through the first 10 minutes, BU held the Bison to just six points, taking a commanding 21-6 lead at 9:22 when Holland completed a three-point play with a made free throw.
Bucknell made only one of its first 12 attempts and three of its first 20, as the America East player of the game O'Brien drained his second 3-pointer of the game with 32 seconds remaining to give BU its largest lead of the game at 16 points. Tyler Morris alone recorded four steals, helping the Terriers entice the Bison into 10 turnovers while committing only six.
The second half proved to be eerily similar to last year's contest, except that the teams were in different roles. At Sojka Pavilion, the Terriers trailed by as many as 16 before earning a 71-68 victory in overtime.
This time, the Bison did the rallying, but unlike the Terriers last season could never take the lead. Bucknell started the half quickly with Darryl Shazier nailing a 3-pointer on the first possession en route to a 13-2 run that was capped by Boon's back-to-back 3-pointers, bringing the Bison back within five at 34-29 with 16:50 remaining.
O'Brien scored the next five points with 1-of-2 free throws and two breakaway dunks to push the lead back to 10, but Boon hit another trey at 13:27 to bring the deficit to five again, 39-34.
Trailing 46-36 with 9:50 left, Bucknell used a 9-2 run, keyed by a Stephen Tyree 3-pointer and two free throws from Boon, to make it a 48-45 game with 6:42 left in the contest.
The Bison had three opportunities to either tie the game or bring it within one, but the Terrier defense held strong, first preventing Bucknell from getting an attempt off as the shot clock expired at 5:42. After a missed 3-pointer by BU at 3:21 with the score 53-50, the Bison turned the ball back over, and then later Shazier missed a 3-point attempt at 2:23.
Strong made sure Bucknell would never have another opportunity to tie the game, swishing a huge 3-pointer from the left corner to give BU a 56-50 lead at 2:06. After Behan hit two free throws to cut the deficit to four, B.J. Bailey crashed the boards following a missed 3-point attempt from Strong and tipped it in to push the lead back to six with 1:20 left.
Bucknell failed to hit a field goal the rest of the game, as the Terriers pulled out the victory with a 40.4 percent performance from the field. BU edged the Bison in rebounds, 38-36, and committed two fewer turnovers, 12-14.
The team will next travel to Marist on Saturday (Dec. 12) for the first meeting between the two schools since the 1985-86 season. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
