March 1, 2014
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Postgame Comments: Irving | Papale
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WORCESTER, Mass. - Playing in their final regular season game, seniors D.J. Irving and Dom Morris combined for 29 points to help the Boston University men's basketball team triumph at Holy Cross, 68-64, and capture the Patriot League regular season title outright Saturday afternoon. With the second consecutive win, the preseason favorite Terriers (22-9, 15-3 PL) will enter a conference tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2004.
Trailing by as many as six in the second half, BU held a 66-64 lead after the Crusaders (18-12, 12-6 PL) hit their seventh 3-pointer at 1:46. The Terriers drained a minute off the clock due to an offensive rebound but were unable to score on the second attempt. They got the steal though with eight seconds left, and Irving hit both free throws to seal the victory.
Irving finished with 15 points and five rebounds, while Morris had 14 points and a team-high six rebounds to move past 2011 America East Player of the Year John Holland ('11) for No. 6 all-time at BU in career rebounds (726). Plagued by foul trouble for most of the second half, sophomore Maurice Watson Jr. finished with seven points, six assists and five rebounds, as the Terriers out-rebounded Holy Cross, 31-27, and shot 52.0 percent from the field.
The lone senior for the Crusaders, forward Dave Dudzinski posted a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting but was limited to just three points in the final 19:40. Eric Green was the second in double figures with 10 points, five assists and three steals, while Malcolm Miller had eight points and a game-high seven boards. Holy Cross finished 21-of-51 (.412), including 7-of-20 (.350) from behind the arc, and went 15-of-22 (.682) at the charity stripe.
Visiting the Hart Center for the first time since Jan. 2, 2008, BU jumped out to a 12-5 lead at 14:33 on a layup from sophomore Justin Alston. Freshman Cedric Hankerson's 3-pointer two minutes later gave BU its largest lead of the contest, 15-7.
Down 17-10 with 9:18 remaining in the first stanza, Holy Cross reeled off the game's next 10 points over the following three minutes with Dudzinski's layup pushing the Crusaders ahead, 20-17. Sophomore John Papale broke a 23-23 deadlock at 2:42 for BU, and Irving hit a pair of free throws along with a layup to extend the lead to 30-25.
Justin Burrell's 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining cut BU's lead to 30-28 entering the locker room. The Terriers shot 46.2 percent and held Holy Cross to 33.3 percent but missed out on extra possessions by turning the ball over six times.
Looking to avenge an earlier 70-60 loss at BU, the Crusaders came out firing to start the second half. Dudzinski and Watson exchanged 3-point baskets before Burrell and Thompson nailed back-to-back treys for the Crusaders. Green hit two free throws with 16:42 remaining to give Holy Cross its largest lead of the game, 41-35.
Ignited by sophomore Nathan Dieudonne's 3-pointer, the Terriers charged back with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes with Irving and Robinson also hitting shots from behind the arc. Morris' 15-footer at 7:50 pushed BU ahead, 56-48.
Holy Cross cut the deficit to three (58-55) at 5:43, but Morris hit a layup and Papale drained a 3-pointer to move the Terriers' advantage back to eight. The Crusaders kept the pressure on though with Miller's jumper and Thomson's four consecutive made free throws putting the score at 63-61 with 2:14 left in regulation.
Papale and Malachi Alexander exchanged 3-pointers to keep BU's lead at two with 1:46 remaining. Watson then missed a jumper at 1:09 but grabbed the offensive rebound to help the Terriers drain the clock even more.
BU called timeout to set up a play, and Holy Cross got the stop by forcing Papale to shoot a contested jumper near the corner before the buzzer sounded. The Crusaders then called timeout to try to either take the lead or tie the game. Robinson however swarmed over Thompson with nine seconds remaining to create the turnover and help seal the victory.
With the win, the Terriers have swept the Crusaders for the first time since they were both members of the ECAC North in 1983 and also collected a victory at the Hart Center for the first time since 2002. They outscored Holy Cross in the paint, 30-24, and off turnovers, 15-13.
The Terriers will open the Patriot League tournament as the No. 1 seed against either No. 8 Loyola Maryland or No. 9 Lafayette on Wednesday, March 5, at Agganis Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The senior tri-captains Irving, Morris and Robinson will be seeking their second bid to the NCAA tournament after helping BU reach the Big Dance as the 2011 America East champions during their rookie season.
