HANOVER, N.H. – Facing a one-point deficit with 23 seconds remaining, senior
Jonas Harper came up with a game-changing steal and contested fastbreak layup to help the Boston University men's basketball team claim a 65-62 win at Dartmouth on Saturday night.
Harper went 7-of-9 from the field with four 3-pointers en route to both a season and game-high 19 points, as the Terriers (9-3) extended their non-conference game win streak to five contests, the program's longest since the 2003-04 squad won six straight. Averaging 11 3-pointers per game, the Big Green (3-5) tried to force overtime on the final possession after calling timeout at 4.4 seconds near midcourt, but the BU defense forced a tough shot attempt that was well off the mark to put Dartmouth at 6-of-16 (.375) from behind the arc.
In a matchup featuring 10 ties and five lead changes, graduate student
Sukhmail Mathon added a season-high 18 points with seven rebounds, while classmate
Javante McCoy came up one rebound shy of his first career double-double. McCoy was in danger of having his streak of consecutive games with 10+ points snapped but stepped up in the final three minutes with a pair of buckets in the paint and two clutch free throws at 6.2 seconds to extend the streak to a personal-best 15 games dating back to last season.
Aaryn Rai led the Big Green with 17 points, while Brendan Barry tallied 13 points with the help of three 3-pointers after entering the game averaging four treys per game. Dartmouth was held to 43.4 FG% but kept the game closer by out-rebounding the Terriers, 32-29, and posting a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points.
DOWN THE STRETCH
- After Harper flushed his final 3-pointer for a 56-49 lead with 5:48 remaining, Ryan Cornish came right back with a layup and bonus free throw to spark a 7-0 spurt capped by his two free throws at 4:05 and then Dame Adelekun's putback at 3:11.
- Following a BU timeout, McCoy scored on each of the next two possessions, but Rai and Taurus Samuels each had a response to keep the game tied, 60-60, with 1:41 remaining.
- Mathon drew a foul on the following BU possession but went 1-of-2 at the line, which led to Adelekun grabbing a 62-61 lead on a short jumper in the paint at 1:00.
- Samuels blocked McCoy's drive to the hoop for the defensive stop with 40 seconds remaining but could not take advantage, as Harper took hold of a deflected pass and went to the hoop for the fastbreak layup.
- Rai tried to retake the lead but missed a contested jumper, leading to McCoy calmly hitting both free throw attempts.
- The Big Green missed a tough game-tying attempt before the buzzer after moving the ball up the court and calling timeout at 4.4 seconds for the loss.
THE SETUP
- Nate Ogbu started the game with an offensive rebound and layup to give Dartmouth its largest lead of the game.
- With the score tied at 8-8, sophomore Anthony Morales scored from downtown to help spark an 12-3 run capped by Harper's layup and free throw at 9:20.
- Facing a 27-18 deficit with six minutes remaining in the half, the Big Green chipped away and eventually pulled within two, 30-28, at 47 seconds on two free throws from Barry.
- Harper responded with a 3-pointer, but Barry drained one off a rainbow shot in the corner to keep BU's lead at just two points (32-30) entering the locker room.
- The teams traded blows for much of the second half with Dartmouth retaking the lead, 46-45, at 10:06 on Rai's offensive rebound and jumper.
- Harper and sophomore Caelan Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers with Harper adding one more at 5:48 for the 56-49 advantage.
GAME NOTES
- With those two free throws at 6.2 seconds, McCoy moved into a tie with Paul Hendricks ('87) for No. 8 all-time at BU with 1,527 career points.
- Mathon is just one game away from tying the program record for career appearances (129) and is just 73 rebounds away from becoming the ninth Terrier to reach 700 total.
- Harper has regained his stroke, shooting 7-of-10 from behind the arc over the last two games after going 2-of-24 over the previous four contests.
- Jones hit a pair of 3-pointers for the second consecutive game and is now 5-of-10 in his third consecutive appearance.
- BU won for the first time in two seasons when hitting fewer free throws than the opponent, as Dartmouth went 10-of-15 and limited the Terriers to a season-low seven points and nine attempts.
- BU is now 4-1 in the 21st century against the Big Green, who saw the series lead dropped to 22-9.
- The Terriers are now 5-2 in games decided by five points or less this season.
UP NEXT
- BU will next focus on finals and then host Marist on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m. in the final game of 2021.
- The Terriers are 4-1 all-time and will be facing the Red Foxes for the first time since claiming a 58-37 home win in 2010.
