Box Score | Highlights | J. Papale Video Interview

CBS Sports Network's final-play highlight

BOSTON - Senior John Papale's buzzer-beater lifted the Boston University men's basketball team to a thrilling 75-73 win over Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at Case Gym. With their second win on the CBS Sports Network, BU improves to 12-11 and 5-5 in the Patriot League.

The Mountain Hawks (6-14, 4-5 PL) looked as if they would have the last possession in a tied game, but a costly turnover on the perimeter against BU's pressuring defense gave the Terriers one final chance to take the lead. After a long pass attempt from midcourt was knocked out by Lehigh, freshman Kyle Foreman inbounded the ball to Papale, who briefly lost control.

Never panicking, the sharpshooter quickly picked up the ball and dribbled toward the hoop before letting go of a shot up in the air with 0.1 on the clock to beat the buzzer and secure the Terriers' second consecutive win. With his late-game heroics and two 3-pointers, he became the fifth Terrier to reach double figures at 10 points, while also moving past John Holland ('11) into sole possession of second place in the program record book for career 3-pointers with 257 total.

Sophomore Cheddi Mosely led BU with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while junior Eric Fanning finished with 16 points. Senior Nathan Dieudonne tallied 12 points, and sophomore Nick Havener secured 10 points, a team-high six rebounds and career-high five assists. BU shot 25-of-54 (.463) from the field and more impressively 18-of-21 (.857) at the charity stripe to overcome deficits in both points off turnovers (22-12) and second-chance points (12-7).

Reigning PL Player of the Year Tim Kempton had his second consecutive double-double against the Terriers behind a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Jesse Chuku posted 14 points and six blocks, while Kyle Leufroy had 13 points. Lehigh finished 30-of-67 (.448) but was limited to just six 3-pointers on 16 attempts after toching BU with a 10-of-17 performance in the first meeting back on Jan. 2. 

Lehigh never trailed in the first half, jumping out to a 15-7 lead at 12:32 on Devon Carter's layup. The Terriers clawed their way back to tie the game six minutes later, 24-24, on Dieudonne's layup that resulted from a Fanning steal. 

The Mountain Hawks though reeled off eight straight points on a Kempton 3-point play and Chuku trey to move back ahead, 32-24, at 4:55. Chuku hit a short jumper to keep the advantage at eight (37-29) with 1:38 remaining, but Fanning hit two free throws along with a layup at the four-second mark to help cut the deficit to just four (39-35) at halftime.

BU needed little time to grab its first lead, as Havener made his presence known. He first blocked a Kempton shot attempt and then fed Dieudonne for an emphatic slam dunk. He followed with a jumper and two free throws at 16:48 for the 41-39 lead.

Chuku briefly gave Lehigh the lead again, 49-48 with a 3-pointer at 13:02, but the Terriers went on a 14-2 run capped by Mosely's 3-pointer and free throw at 9:58. BU shot 5-of-6 from behind the arc in the first 10:01 of the half but would fail to hit another the rest of the contest.

Lehigh took advantage of the Terriers' missed opportunities by chipping away and eventually retaking the lead, 68-67, on Chuku's fourth 3-pointer at 4:06. The Mountain Hawks maintained the one-point advantage heading into the final minute.

They missed a 3-point attempt with 30 seconds left but grabbed the offensive rebound, forcing BU to immediately foul. Kahron Ross hit both free throws but made a critical mistake with 11 seconds remaining. Fanning grabbed an offensive rebound following Papale's missed 3-point attempt and hit a layup while being fouled by Ross. 

Fanning drained the free throw to tie the game, prompting Lehigh to call its final timeout. The Mountain Hawks brought the ball up, but Ross threw it away to help set up BU's buzzer-beating play.

Following the win, the Terriers will try to prevent a sweep for the second consecutive game when they travel to Navy on Wednesday (Feb. 3) at 7 p.m.