WEST POINT, N.Y. – Down one with 25 seconds remaining in regulation, sophomore
Tyler Scanlon swiped the ball away from Army West Point and freshman
Walter Whyte converted on a successful drive to the hoop to help the Boston University men's basketball team escape with a 61-59 road win over the Black Knights on Saturday afternoon.
Ending the regular season on a two-game win streak, Terriers (14-15, 10-8 PL) have now claimed 10+ victories in conference play in nine of the last 10 seasons. They shot 20-of-39 (.513) from the field and held Army (13-16, 6-12 PL) to 22-of-70 (.314) to overcome a season-high 24 turnovers.
THE FINAL STRETCH
- After Scanlon tied the game for the seventh and final time, 56-56, with 1:54 left in regulation on a pair of free throws, Alex King flushed the Black Knights' eighth 3-pointer of the contest for their final lead.
- Senior Cedric Hankerson missed a layup attempt on the next possession but grabbed the offensive rebound before drawing a foul and making both free throw attempts to cut the deficit to 59-58.
- The Black Knights were unable to get off a shot on their next two possessions due to a pair of steals by Scanlon, including one with 25 seconds left after Army got a defensive stop and called timeout to set up the offense.
- Scanlon quickly pushed the ball up the court, and Whyte eventually went to the hoop for the contested layup and a free throw to pull ahead, 61-59.
- Army had 17 offensive rebounds in the game but could not add to its total in the final seconds after Tommy Funk missed a tough layup attempt, as BU swatted the loose ball away to seal the victory.
THE SETUP
- BU was on fire to start the game, hitting its first six field goal attempts with three 3-pointers to jump out to a 16-5 lead at 14:18.
- Freshman Javante McCoy's jumper at 5:03 pushed the Terriers' lead to 33-11, but the Black Knights hit three of their treys to to finish the half on a 12-2 run.
- The Terriers went a near-perfect 14-of-17 (.824) from the field and 7-of-9 (.778) in 3-point territory during the first 20 minutes of action but had committed 16 turnovers to only claim a 12-point halftime advantage.
- After shooting 22.2 percent in the first half, Army heated up in the second with seven straight points to pull within, 35-30, at 16:08.
- The Black Knights eventually tied the game for the first time at 13:23 (39-39) on Luke Morrison's layup and then later took their first lead (48-46) at 7:35 on King's layup.
- Hankerson briefly gave BU the lead at 6:42 (49-48), but King again scored while being fouled in the paint.
- BU tied the game on four occasions at 5:33 (51-51), 4:00 (52-52), 3:14 (54-54) and 1:54 (56-56), respectively, from the free throw line before escaping with the win.
GAME NOTES
- The Terriers featured three men in double figures with Hankerson, McCoy and Whyte all tallying 10 points apiece, as Hankerson moved within two points of BU's No. 13 all-time leading scorer John Papale ('16), who owns 1,289 points.
- Freshman Sukhmail Mathon, Whyte, senior Nick Havener and senior Will Goff all had two blocks apiece.
- BU claimed a sweep over the Black Knights for the first time since the 2013-14 season after the teams split each of the last three years ... The Terriers now lead the all-time series, 17-9.
- BU attempted all 18 of its free throw attempts in the second half.
- The Terriers earned their first win of the season when trailing with under five minutes to play after the Black Knights went ahead, 52-51, at 5:17 on Morrison's free throw attempt.
- Morrison led all players with 14 points, while King had 11 points and Tommy Funk posted 10 points.
- The Black Knights outscored BU in the paint (28-22), off turnovers (16-10) and in second-chance opportunities (13-2).
NEXT UP: PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS
- Finishing fifth in the standings at 10-8, the Terriers will make the trek to No. 4 Lehigh (11-7) for Thursday's (March 1) quarterfinal matchup.
- The two squads split this year with the home team winning each contest ... BU won 92-81 at home and then dropped an 80-75 decision in Bethlehem after holding a three-point lead with 1:45 remaining in regulation.
- The Mountain Hawks will enter the matchup on an eight-game win streak featuring victories over No. 1 seed Bucknell (16-2) and No. 2 Colgate (12-6).
- Lehigh eliminated the Terriers last season in a 2OT semifinal thriller, 91-88, at Case Gym.