Side angle view of Max Mahoney dribbling near the sideline with a West Virginia defender in front of him.
Dan Friend
69
Winner Boston U. BOSTONU 6-7
67
Merrimack Merri 6-7
Winner
Boston U. BOSTONU
6-7
69
Final
67
Merrimack Merri
6-7
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Boston U. BOSTONU 41 28 69
Merrimack Merri 44 23 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Terriers Finish Strong in 69-67 Non-Conference Finale Win at Merrimack

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Facing a five-point deficit with under five to play, the Boston University men's basketball team rallied to defeat Merrimack, 69-67, on Sunday night at Hammel Court.
 
Sophomore Walter Whyte flushed the go-ahead 3-pointer at the 44-second mark to help the Terriers (6-7) end non-conference play on a season-high three-game win streak. Senior Max Mahoney led all players with 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Whyte had 16 points and six boards. Junior Andrew Petcash came off the bench with a career-tying three 3-pointers for 11 points.
 
Hosting BU for the first time in 50 years, the Warriors (6-7) looked to take advantage of the Terriers' 5-of-13 free throw performance and send the contest to overtime but missed a game-tying layup attempt before the buzzer. Merrimack shot 56.7 percent from the field in the first half for a 44-41 lead but was held to 33.3 FG% and 23 points total in the second for the loss.
 
DOWN THE STRETCH
  • Trailing by six (60-54) with 10:46 remaining, Merrimack went on an 11-0 run capped by Devin Jensen's trey at 4:59 to pull ahead, 60-54.
  • Petcash followed junior Sukhmail Mathon's layup with a bomb from the corner to tie the game for the ninth and final time at 3:27.
  • BU came up with another stop for the opportunity to take the lead but turned the ball over, leading to two Merrimack free throws.
  • Whyte scored the game's final four points with a free throw at 2:14 and 3-pointer at 44 seconds after the Terriers forced a shot clock violation.
  • Merrimack was called with traveling on the next possession, but BU could not take advantage, missing the 1-and-1, at 10.8 seconds.
  • The missed opportunity to put the lead at three or four points did not matter though, as Juvaris Hayes came up short on his layup attempt.
THE SETUP
  • Jensen opened with a 3-pointer to spark an 8-2 spurt capped by Hayes' steal and Mikey Watkins' layup.
  • BU chipped away and tied the game at 15:01 (12-12) on sophomore Jonas Harper's 3-pointer.
  • The Terriers grabbed their largest lead six minutes later on back-to-back buckets from Mahoney for the 24-21 advantage.
  • Merrimack responded with an 8-0 run with the help of two bombs and tied their largest lead of the half at 6:52 (32-26) on Idris Joyner's 3-point play.
  • Mahoney hit a turnaround jumper near the sideline to beat the buzzer and put BU's deficit at 44-41 entering the locker room.
  • After Jordan Minor hit a layup at 18:06 to extend Merrimack's lead to 46-41, sophomore Alex Vilarino hit one of his own to spark an 11-0 run capped by Petcash's 3-pointer and assist on Mathon's layup at 15:43.
  • Mahoney kept BU's lead at six (60-54) with 11:08 remaining before the Terriers went on a 6:41 scoring drought.
GAME NOTES
  • Coming off a 23-point performance at UMass Lowell, Mahoney has scored 20+ points in back-to-back games for the first time this season and now ranks No. 17 all-time at BU with 1,234 points, surpassing former 1984 Canadian Olympian Tony Simms' 1,220 points.
  • Starting for the second consecutive game, Mathon dished out a career-tying four assists while adding eight points and four rebounds.
  • The Terriers finished 28-of-49 (.571) from the field and 8-of-17 (.471) in 3-point territory.
  • BU committed 12 turnovers against a Merrimack squad that entered the contest averaging 17 forced turnovers per game.
  • Mikey Watkins led Merrimack with 14 points, while Jensen had 11 points.
  • Besides claiming its first victory of the year when facing a deficit with five minutes to play, BU won for the second time this season when trailing at the half after earning a 78-70 victory (down 38-35) at South Carolina
  • The Terriers improved to 7-0 all-time in the series after winning the first matchup between the two schools since 1984.
  • Owner of notable wins against Northwestern, UMass Lowell and Army, Merrimack was the 2019 NE-10 (NCAA Division II) champion and moved up to Division I this past summer by joining the Northeast Conference. 
NEXT UP: LAFAYETTE
  • BU will open the new year and Patriot League schedule at home against Lafayette on Thursday, Jan. 2, with a 7 p.m. start time.
  • The Leopards have been one of the hotter teams in the PL with an 8-3 conference record highlighted by wins at Saint Joseph's, Princeton and Columbia.
  • Both road teams won last season with BU collecting an 84-82 road win following 79-72 home loss.
Print Friendly Version