Marist Outlasts Men's Basketball in Overtime, 84-79

Saturday, December 18

Boston, MA

5 PM

Boston University

9-4,0-0Patriot

Marist

5-5,1-1MAAC

OT 1

Marist

Boston U.

Photo by: Robert Branning

Marist Outlasts Men's Basketball in Overtime, 84-79

December 18, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights, Coach Corbean Postgame Coach Jones Postgame

BOSTON – Despite hitting 11 3-pointers and graduate student Sukhmail Mathon earning a double-double, the Boston University men's basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season to Marist in overtime, 84-79, on Saturday evening at Case Gym.

In a contest featuring 12 lead changes, Jao Ituka tied the game in regulation with a contested 3-pointer at 4.4 seconds and followed up with six of his game-high 34 points during the extra session to help the Red Foxes improve to 5-5. After shooting 7-of-17 from behind the arc in the second half, the Terriers went 1-of-5 to drop to 9-4.

Graduate student Javante McCoy tallied a team-high 17 points, while Mathon posted 13 points and game-high 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Seniors Jonas Harper (14 pts.) and Fletcher Tynen (11 pts.) combined for 25 points and 10 rebounds, as BU won the battle at the boards, 40-35.

Ituka shot 11-of-14 from the field off the bench and also 11-of-13 at the charity stripe to drive Marist's offense. Ricardo Wright contributed 14 points with Raheim Sullivan adding 11 points. Overall, Marist shot 28-of-58 (.483) and held the Terriers to 28-of-68 (.412) for the win.

OVERTIME

BU opened with four straight points off Mathon's layup and Tynen's two free throws before Mathon added another layup to maintain the 74-70 lead with 2:57 left.
The Terriers though missed their next three shots, as the Red Foxes went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes.
Facing a two-point deficit, Marist missed an open 3-point attempt but grabbed the offensive rebound to set up Matthew Herasme's shot in 3-point territory that gave the Red Foxes the lead for good at 1:43, 75-74.
McCoy hit a 3-pointer at 36 seconds to cut the deficit in half (80-77), but Marist hit the next four free throw attempts to seal the win.

DOWN THE STRETCH

Harper's 3-pointer at 6:20 in the second half gave BU its largest lead of the game, 61-50.
Marist began chipping away and pulled within five, 64-59, at 2:45 on Ituka's free throw.
Mathon responded with a layup to pull ahead, 66-59, at 2:21, but the Red Foxes reeled off six straight points with four coming from the charity stripe.
After Jordan Jones cut BU's lead to 66-65 at 51 seconds, the Terriers missed a layup attempt, but Marist lost control of the ball on a driving attempt to the hoop.
Junior Garrett Pascoe hit both free throws for a 68-65 advantage at 12 seconds before Ituka tied the game from behind the arc with a rainbow shot..

THE SETUP

Marist opened the game with an 8-2 lead and moved ahead, 16-8, at 10:59 on Javon Cooley's 3-pointer.
Facing an 18-11 deficit, sophomore Caelan Jones flushed a trey on BU's next two possessions to provide an offensive spark, as BU went on a 14-3 run capped by Tynen's steal and McCoy's 3-pointer at 6:12.
The teams traded blows the rest of the half with Ituka's driving layup at 1:39 giving Marist a 34-33 lead entering the locker room.
Trailing 44-43 following another Ituka layup with 14:25 left in regulation, the Terriers went on a 15-4 run with the help of three combined 3-pointers from Harper and sophomore Daman Tate over the next seven minutes.
Harper struck again from downtown at 6:20 for the 61-50 advantage.

GAME NOTES

McCoy moved into sole possession of No. 8 in the program record book at 1,544 career points.
Mathon tied his personal best with 14 rebounds, last accomplishing the feat against Gordon College in November and at Colgate in the 2021 PL quarterfinals.
Now tied for the program record at 129 career appearances, Mathon is just 59 rebounds away from becoming the ninth Terrier to reach 700 career rebounds.
BU's 39 3-point attempts were two shy of the program record set at Syracuse five years ago.
BU is now 0-2 this season in overtime games following an earlier 81-80 loss at Florida State.
Marist outscored BU in the paint, 36-28, and had a 44-21 advantage in bench production.
The Terriers are 4-2 all-time in the first meeting between the two programs since 2010.

UP NEXT

BU will remain home and open Patriot League play on Saturday, Jan. 1, against Bucknell at 1 p.m.
The two teams did not face off this past season due to the PL utilizing a pod system to limit travel.
The Terriers won all three meetings in 2020, including a 64-61 decision in the PL semifinals en route to the conference title.