BOSTON – Junior Javante McCoy (19 points) and sophomore Walter Whyte (18) combined for 37 points, as the third-seeded Boston University men's basketball team held off No. 6 Navy, 69-63, in the Patriot League quarterfinals on Thursday evening at Case Gym.
 
Shooting over 50 percent in the second half after being held to 32.1 FG% in the first, the Terriers (19-13) advance to Sunday's semifinal round, which will also take place at home thanks to seventh-seeded Bucknell's 64-59 road upset of No. 2 American on Thursday. The CBS Sports Network broadcast will begin at 12 p.m.
 
Sophomore and PL All-Defensive Team member Jonas Harper hit two big 3-pointers in the last five minutes of regulation for BU, who did not trail after a 3-pointer by the All-PL Second Team honoree Whyte with 9:15 to play gave the home team a 50-48 advantage. Whyte added a game-high 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season, while Harper finished with 11 points and two blocks. Senior and All-PL First Team member Max Mahoney added nine points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Seeing their season end at 14-16, the Midshipmen led by as many as 12 points in the opening half and held a 46-39 advantage with 12 minutes remaining before the Terriers embarked on a game-changing 16-4 run. All-PL Second Team honoree Cam Davis contributed 13 points but was held to 6-for-18 shooting. Tyler Nelson came off the bench with 10 points and eight rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Terriers held the Midshipmen to just two points in the first five minutes, but the visitors reeled off 13 straight points to take a 15-5 lead with 11:30 remaining in the opening half.
• Navy's lead grew to as many as 12 at 22-10 on John Carter Jr.'s 3-pointer before the Terriers started chipping away and getting within six on two occasions late in the first. 
• A 3-point play from Mahoney with 7.7 seconds left capped a 6-1 BU run to make it a 31-27 deficit at the break.
• In the early stages of the second half, the Terriers made it a one-point game three different times before Navy reeled off six straight points to secure a seven-point cushion, 44-37, at 13:36 on Nelson's dunk.
• Whyte was fouled on a made lay-up that created the first tie since 2-2, and he made the ensuing free throw to put the Terriers up 47-46 for their first lead since the sixth minute of play.
• The Midshipmen quickly regained the lead at 48-47 on a basket by Cam Davis, but Whyte responded with his third bomb to give BU the lead for good.
• Harper added 3-pointers at 4:20 and 2:32, respectively, to push the Terriers' advantage to 63-56.
• A lay-up by Navy's Greg Summers with 1:10 to play cut BU's lead down to just two at 65-63.
• An All-PL Third Team honoree, McCoy responded with a successful drive to the hoop and added two more free throws following a Navy turnover at 21 seconds to seal the victory.

GAME NOTES

• Whyte gave BU its 14th double-double in 17 games.
• Mahoney is just 10 rebounds away from becoming the fourth Terrier in program history to reach 1,500 points and 700 rebounds.
• With 1,524 points, Mahoney just needs four more to grab the No. 7 spot away from Paul Hendricks ('87).
• A week after becoming the 39th Terrier to reach 1,000 points, McCoy now sits in the No. 31 slot at 1,040 points.
• The Terriers will make their fourth PL semifinal appearance and first since 2018.
• Both teams shot 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the floor to mark just the third time during nine-year head coach Joe Jones' tenure that both teams finished in a tie.
• Each team gathered 36 rebounds on the night as well with BU posting a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points.
• BU held an 11-10 edge in the turnover battle and committed only three in the final 24 minutes of play.
• Evan Wieck added 12 points for Navy, while Nelson and Carter Jr. chipped in 10 apiece.
• BU snapped a three-game losing streak as the No. 3 seed in a conference tournament with its first win since 2007. 
• The Terriers improved to 12-5 all-time against Navy after snapping a 10-game streak in which the road team prevailed in the series.
• BU met Navy in a postseason game for the first time since defeating the Midshipmen in the 1959 NCAA Sweet 16, and two members from that team were in attendance for tonight's matchup.

NEXT UP: BUCKNELL

• The Terriers will host seventh-seeded Bucknell in the league semifinals on Sunday (March 8) with the CBS Sports Network broadcast slated to begin at 12 p.m.
• No. 1 Colgate will host No. 5 Lafayette in the other semifinal at 2 p.m.
• BU and Bucknell have only met once in the PL tournament with the then-No. 1 Bison claiming a 90-59 win over the No. 5 Terriers in the 2018 semifinals.
• This season, the Terriers claimed a sweep with a 77-57 road win on Feb. 1 and then a 74-71 come-from-behind home victory on Feb. 29.