BOSTON – Boosted by junior Javante McCoy's third 20-plus point performance in four games and sophomore Walter Whyte's third double-double of the season, the Boston University men's basketball team completed the series sweep against in-state rival Holy Cross, 77-68, on Saturday afternoon at Case Gym.

Riding a season-high five-game win streak, the Terriers improve to 15-10 and 9-3 in Patriot League play to set up an important battle at home with standings leader Colgate (10-2 PL) on Monday night. Named Turnpike Trophy MVP, McCoy went 9-of-14 en route to a team-high 21 points, while senior Max Mahoney had 17 points and seven boards. Whyte claimed 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, as the Terriers won the rebound battle, 36-31.

The Crusaders (3-22, 2-10 PL) led the game for over 23 minutes with the help of 14 points off eight BU miscues but were limited to 40.0 percent shooting in the second half against the Terriers' 52.0 FG% for the loss. Seven-time PL Rookie of the Week Joe Pridgen led all players with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting alongside eight rebounds. Both Clayton Le Sann and Blake Verbeek earned 11 points apiece as well.

TURNING POINT

• After Ryan Wade flushed a 3-pointer to give the Crusaders a 52-48 lead at 12:06, the Terriers went on an 8-1 spurt over the next three minutes to grab the lead for good with freshman Ethan Brittain-Watts hitting a free throw at 9:19 for the 56-53 advantage.
• Pridgen used layups at 8:31 and 6:57 to cut HC's deficit to one point, but BU had a response each time on layups from Brittain-Watts and then sophomore Alex Vilarino.
• Sophomore Jonas Harper hit his lone 3-pointer to push BU's lead to 67-59 at 4:06 and added two free throws with 38 seconds remaining for the Terriers' largest lead of the game (75-63).

THE SETUP

• McCoy hit his lone 3-pointer following Pridgen's game-opening layup, but Matt Faw came right back with a trey to erase BU's lead.
• The Terriers wouldn't lead again until the 15:43 mark in the second half, as Pridgen broke a 7-7 deadlock with a jumper to spark an 10-1 spurt featuring back-to-back 3-pointers from Wade and Connor Niego at 13:07.
• BU never allowed HC to extend the lead to double digits and pulled within one (35-34) on McCoy's layup before the buzzer.
• After Mahoney started the second half with a game-tying free throw, the Crusaders scored five straight for the 40-35 advantage at 18:06.
• The Terriers then went on a 7-0 spurt over the following 2:30 with Whyte hitting a fastbreak layup to pull ahead, 42-40.
• In total, there were four ties and five lead changes in the second half.

GAME NOTES

• With his 17 points, Mahoney moved past Chaz Carr ('05) and Mike Alexander ('87) for No. 10 all-time in the BU record book at 1,418 points.
• Whyte's double-double marked the 10th of the season for BU with Mahoney leading the way at five total.
• McCoy earned his fourth 20+ point performance of the season and now sits at 962 career points, 38 shy of becoming the 39th Terrier to eclipse 1,000 points.
• Junior Sukhmail Mathon added eight rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
• The Terriers outscored HC in the paint, 38-32, while posting a 17-8 advantage in made free throws.
• BU finished 27-of-54 (.500) from the field, while the Crusaders went 26-of-57 (.456).
• The Terriers are now 11-3 against HC since joining the Patriot League in the summer of 2013.  
• With both women's basketball and women's ice hockey earning wins in Worcester today, BU owns a 10-2 commanding lead in the Turnpike Trophy all-sports series against HC.

NEXT UP: COLGATE

• The Terriers will host the defending Patriot League champions on Monday with the CBS Sports Network broadcast set to begin at 7 p.m.
• Colgate won the first matchup at home, 79-70, back on Jan. 18 in a contest featuring multiple runs.
• All five Raiders scored in double figures, while sophomore Jack Hemphill had his second career double-double (12 pts., 10 rebs.) for BU.