Box Score | Watch Replay on PLN

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Highlighted by a season-high 58.1 field goal shooting percentage, the Boston University men's basketball team pulled out a wire-to-wire 83-72 victory at Patriot League defensive leader Navy on Wednesday night.

The Midshipmen (16-8, 7-4 PL) entered the contest allowing a conference-low 62.3 ppg, but the Terriers (13-11, 6-5 PL) shot 68.2 percent in the first half and went 14-of-19 from the line in the second to become just the second opponent this season (and first at Alumni Hall) to eclipse the 72-point threshold in regulation.

Freshman Kyle Foreman went a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc to finish with 17 points, while junior Eric Fanning overcame foul trouble to earn 15 points. The two Terriers combined for 22 points for the 45-35 halftime lead and tallied four assists apiece for their third straight victory. Senior John Papale led BU in the final 20 minutes with 16 of his team-high 18 points, as he went 8-of-9 at the charity stripe. Classmate Nathan Dieudonne nearly had a double-double with eight points and game-high 14 rebounds. Junior Blaise Mbargorba came off the bench for seven points, career-high seven rebounds and personal-best five blocks to help on the defensive end.

Navy kept within striking distance by shooting 50.0 percent in the first half and converting BU's 19 turnovers into 19 points. Jace Hogan led the way with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while Tilman Dubar tallied 20 points, five assists and two steals. Will Kelly contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, but the team featuring the league's top rebounding margin of +5.2 still lost the battle at the boards to the Terriers, 39-26. 

Despite being limited to a season-low 10 minutes by foul trouble and eventual foul out, sophomore Nick Havener was able to make an impact, as he opened the game with a block, defensive rebound and layup to grab the lead for good. He next contested both of Kelly's jumpers to help create defensive stops, and BU took advantage with a Foreman bucket and Fanning 3-pointer for the early 7-0 lead.

Navy came out of a called timeout energized defensively and forced three straight turnovers to cut the deficit to 7-6. However, the Mids would never get any closer, as Fanning converted on a 3-point play following a Havener layup.

Edward Alade eventually pulled Navy within two (22-20) at 9:06, but sophomore Cheddi Mosely responded with one of his two 3-pointers to ignite an 11-2 run. Mosely finished with 11 points to give BU four men in double figures.

The Terriers extended their lead to as high as 12 points in the first half, highlighted by Foreman's 3-pointer at 1:41. Hogan hit a jumper in the final 10 seconds to pull Navy within 10 (45-35) entering the locker room.

Despite the refs calling a combined nine fouls on the two teams in the first five minutes of the second half, BU continued to keep its energy level high. Papale hit a 3-pointer at 17:58 (50-37) and added another at 11:36 (63-48) for BU's largest lead of the night.

Foreman hit his fourth trey at 7:38 to maintain a double-digit lead, 70-58, but then the Terriers went into a dry spell. They missed their next five field goal attempts and committed four turnovers over the following six minutes, as Navy mounted a rally.

Down 73-62 with 6:16 remaining, Dunbar followed a Kelly free throw with three short scores to cut the deficit to four (73-69) at 2:33. He later drove to the hoop and spun around his defender for what seemed to be his fourth straight field goal at 1:31, but Mbargorba came over to swat away the layup attempt into the hands of Foreman.

On the ensuing possession, Mbargorba scooped up an offensive rebound and got the quick putback for the 75-69 lead. Navy hit a free throw at 39 seconds but missed the second attempt, allowing BU to avoid the press and force the Mids to foul immediately. Papale hit all eight free throws in the final 33 seconds to seal the win and avenge an earlier 83-67 home defeat to Navy.

Navy outscored the Terriers in the paint, 42-24, but went 2-of-16 (.125) from behind the arc, while BU shot and impressive 9-of-15 (.600). The Terriers also had a better night at the line, going 24-of-34 (.706) compared to Navy's 12-of-20 (.600) performance.

After avoiding a sweep for the second consecutive game, BU will next seek its fourth straight win and the program's first sweep of the season at Lafayette on Saturday (Feb. 6) with action slated to begin at 2 p.m.