BOSTON – Boosted by a season-high 28 points off turnovers with the help off 11 steals, the Boston University men's basketball team rolled to an 81-65 win over Lafayette on Wednesday night at Case Gym.

Completing their first sweep of the year against the Leopards (9-19, 7-10 PL), the Terriers (13-15, 9-8 PL) clinched a first-round bye for the Patriot League tournament and extended their streak of finishing .500 or better in conference play to 18 seasons, the ninth longest active mark nationally. Freshman Javante McCoy tallied a game and season-high 21 points while combining with senior Cedric Hankerson (17 pts.) for nine of BU's 12 3-pointers.

THE TURNING POINT

• Facing a 15-point deficit (37-22) with 5:39 remaining in the first half, the Terriers went on a 31-6 run capped by sophomore Max Mahoney's layup at 14:04 in the second half.
• The Leopards cut their own double-digit deficit to five at 11:25 (55-50), but McCoy sparked a 26-4 run with a 3-pointer that ended at 3:48 on Mahoney's layup and free throw.
• BU shot 54.5 percent in the second half and hit eight 3-pointers on 17 attempts while recording 21 points off 13 Lafayette turnovers.

THE SETUP

• Featuring 3-pointers from McCoy and Hankerson, the Terriers claimed an early 11-7 lead at 16:16, but the Leopards went on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to grab the lead for the rest of the first half.
• After Mahoney pulled BU within one (21-20) with 10:22 remaining, Paulius Zalys completed a 3-point play to spark a 16-2 run over the next four minutes with 3-pointers from Alex Petrie, Justin Jaworski and Lukas Jarrett.
• Making his first appearance after missing the previous four games to injury, freshman Walter Whyte hit a layup on sophomore Tyler Scanlon's assist and later had a slam dunk following Hankerson's steal at 4:15 to cut the 15-point to five (37-32).
• Zalys layup with 26 seconds remaining gave Lafayette a 41-36 halftime lead. 

GAME NOTES

• The Terriers snapped a five-game losing streak and remained in sole possession of fifth place in the Patriot League standings at 9-8, one game behind both Lehigh and Navy (10-7) and one ahead of Holy Cross (8-9).
• Shooting 8-of-15 (4-of-7 3FG), McCoy became the fifth Terrier to reach 20+ points this season, joining Mahoney, Hankerson, Scanlon and senior Nick Havener ... BU is tied for ninth with most individuals to hit the mark this season.
• With 17 points, Hankerson moved past Neil Burns ('76) and Eric Fanning ('17) into No. 14 all-time at BU with 1,277 career points ... BU video coordinator John Papale ('16) owns the No. 13 slot at 1,289.
• Mahoney (17 pts.) and Whyte (14 pts.) also reached double figures in the game with Scanlon and senior Will Goff posting five assists apiece.
• The Terriers have now won six straight in the series to extend the record to 12-6 all-time.
• Petrie led Lafayette (47.4 FG%) with 13 points, while Zalys had 11 points. 

NEXT UP: ARMY WEST POINT

• The Terriers will travel to West Point on Saturday (Feb. 24) for a 2 p.m. tip-off against the Black Knights in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
• BU pulled out a 90-82 win against the Black Knights back on Dec. 29 with Hankerson tallying a season-high 33 points.