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WORCESTER, Mass. - Highlighted by a season-high 60.9 percent shooting performance, the Boston University men's basketball team opened defense of its Patriot League regular season title with a thrilling 75-72 overtime victory at Holy Cross on Wednesday afternoon.

Ending the year with back-to-back victories for the first time this season, the Terriers improve to 5-7 (1-0 PL), as the Crusaders (5-6, 0-1 PL) dropped their third straight to BU.

Up by as many as nine late in the first half, the Terriers trailed, 64-59, with 3:26 remaining in regulation before heading to overtime on Mosely's three-point play and Hankerson's pair of free throws, including one at the 39-second mark.

BU later trailed, 72-71, with 39 seconds left but took the lead for good on a huge putback by junior Justin Alston after sophomore Cedric Hankerson's missed layup attempt. The Terriers got two more defensive stops, highlighted by junior Nathan Dieudonne's block on the Crusaders' 3-point attempt with 9.3 seconds left, and added two more free throws for the triumph.

Contributing five points in the extra session, Alston tied a career high with 17 points and added eight rebounds with three blocks, while Hankerson also posted 17 points. Dieudonne earned his second double-double in three games behind 11 points and 11 boards. Junior John Papale was the fourth Terrier in double figures, draining three 3-pointers en route to 12 points. Both he and sophomore Cameron Curry contributed four assists apiece.

Selected third in the preseason poll and opening the season with a 58-57 win against then-No. 25 Harvard, the Crusaders entered the contest ranked 12th in the country at 9.6 steals. They had 12 against BU and converted 20 Terrier turnovers into 19 points while committing just two miscues the entire contest. However, Holy Cross was limited to 36.9 percent shooting on 31-of-84 attempts, including 6-of-30 (.200) from behind the arc.

Malcolm Miller led HC with a game-high 21 points, while Eric Green added 12 points and six rebounds. Malachi Alexander came off the bench for 12 points. Justin Burrell nearly had a double-double with eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals, but both he and starting guard Anthony Thompson went a combined 5-of-29 against the BU zone.

The Crusaders jumped out of the gate on a 9-2 run capped by Eric Green's jumper at 17:49, but the Terriers came right back to take a 16-14 lead at 13:45 following back-to-back treys by Hankerson. Dieudonne extended the lead to 38-29 with 3:05 left on Dieudonne's 3-pointer.

HC though finished the half on a 7-1 spurt to pull within 40-36 entering the locker room. The Terriers had nine turnovers while unable to force a single miscue but shot a staggering 15-of-20 (.750) for the four-point advantage.

Alston started the second half with a dunk to give BU its largest lead of the second half. Trailing 48-42 with 14:42 remaining, the Crusaders charged back on a 14-2 run capped by Thompson's 3-pointer at 9:29. Following a BU timeout, junior Eric Fanning settled the Terriers down with a successful drive to the basket plus the free throw.

Miller hit a layup at 3:26 to give HC the 64-59 advantage, but the Crusaders would miss their final seven attempts of regulation. Mosely responded to the basket by driving to the hoop for a made contested layup while drawing contact. Hankerson went 1-of-2 at the line at 1:11 and 39 seconds to tie the game at 64 apiece. 

After HC missed a tough jumper with eight seconds left on the clock, Hankerson drove across the court trying to hit the game winner, but Miller blocked the layup attempt to send the contest to overtime.

In the first overtime meeting between the two rivals since 2007, the Terriers grabbed a 71-68 lead at 2:34 on Hankerson's free throw. The Crusaders scored four straight points on Green's layup and Taylor Abt's two free throws with 1:01 remaining before Alston's heroic offensive rebound and score. 

Down 74-72 with 7.5 seconds remaining at mid-court, HC called a timeout but was unable to tie the game following Burrell's missed attempt in the paint. Papale grabbed the rebound to help seal the victory.

The Terriers outscored HC in the paint, 40-34, and in the fastbreak, 12-6, while winning the battle at the boards, 38-34. They shot 28-of-46 (.609) and 13-of-19 (.684) at the line to improve to 5-0 when scoring at least 69 points in a contest. They also collected their second victory of the year when trailing at the five-minute mark in regulation after going 1-9 in such situations last season. 

BU will return to Case Gym on Saturday (Jan. 3) and host Lehigh with tip-off set for 1 p.m.