Bench reaction vs. Army - Mathon 3-point play
Michael Last
74
Army West Point ARM 13-12,7-6 Patriot
75
Winner Boston U. BU 17-9,8-5 Patriot
Army West Point ARM
13-12,7-6 Patriot
74
Final
75
Boston U. BU
17-9,8-5 Patriot
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Army West Point ARM 35 39 74
Boston U. BU 36 39 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Mathon 3-Point Play Pushes Terriers to Thrilling 75-74 Win over Army West Point

BOSTON - Graduate student Sukhmail Mathon converted a 3-point play with 1.3 seconds left to lift the Boston University men's basketball team to a thrilling 75-74 victory over Army West Point on Wednesday evening at Case Gym that featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes.

With their sixth overall win in seven games, the Terriers (17-9, 8-5 PL) gain sole possession of third place in the PL standings, while the Black Knights (13-12, 7-6 PL) fall into a three-way tie for fourth with five games remaining. The contest marked the third time this season BU prevailed when trailing with five minutes remaining in regulation. 

Senior Walter Whyte flushed a career-high five 3-pointers en route to a season-tying 21 points, while graduate student Javante McCoy claimed 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Daman Tate provided a spark off the bench for the second consecutive game, shooting 5-of-7 with a pair of 3-pointers, including a clutch trey at 1:19 that combined with Mathon's final play proved to be the difference. Mathon was one point and two boards shy of his 14th double-double.

Four of Army's starters scored in double figures with both Jalen Rucker and Josh Caldwell tallying 19 points apiece. Rucker added five assists, while Caldwell owned six rebounds and five steals. Chris Mann drained three 3-pointers to claim 17 points and hauled in 10 rebounds for the double-double. Charlie Peterson added 11 points as well.

DOWN THE STRETCH
  • Facing a 52-43 deficit with 14:26 remaining, Mann scored from behind the arc to ignite an 11-4 run capped by Rucker's 3-pointer at 11:22.
  • Continuing the attack, Caldwell followed Rucker's fastbreak layup with a putback to pull ahead, 65-63, at 7:21.
  • Rucker stepped up again with 2:20 remaining with his second bomb to extend the lead to 74-69.
  • BU shut down Army the rest of the way though with the Black Knights missing their final three shot attempts and a critical 1-and-1.
  • Senior Jonas Harper fed Tate in the corner to cut the deficit to 74-72.
  • BU followed with a defensive stop but turned it back over with 41 seconds remaining on an errant pass.
  • Army's Mann hauled in the offensive rebound following his own missed attempt but failed to convert at the charity stripe, leading to Mathon's last second heroics on McCoy's assist.

THE SETUP
  • Senior Fletcher Tynen opened the game by drawing an offensive charge nad flushing a 3-pointer to give BU its largest lead of the half.
  • The Black Knights scored six straight in response and later grabbed their largest lead, 18-12, at 11:13 on Caldwell's layup that was created by one of Aaron Duhart's eight assists.
  • Harper came right back with a 3-pointer, and Whyte four minutes later added one of his own to tie the game, 22-22, at 7:34.
  • Sophomore Miles Brewster scored from downtown twice in the final five minutes, including one at seven seconds, for a 36-33 advantage.
  • Caldwell finished the half though with a buzzer-beating layup to cut the deficit to one-point entering the locker room.
  • After Mann retook the lead, 40-39, on a 3-pointer 50 seconds into the second half, McCoy responded with one of his own to spark a 13-3 run capped by freshman Malcolm Chimezie's layup for BU's largest lead of the game at 14:26.
GAME NOTES
  • With his second 20+ point performance of the season and fourth career, Whyte moved up to No. 22 all-time at BU with 1,148 career points.
  • McCoy tied a personal best with nine rebounds.
  • Tate earned his third double-digit performance of the season.
  • The Terriers doubled Army in made 3-pointers, 12-6, to overcome a 10-3 deficit in made free throws. 
  • With a season-tying 12 treys, BU has extended its streak of hitting from behind the arc to 800 straight games. 
  • BU finished 30-of-59 (.508) from the field while holding Army to 29-of-69 (.420). 
  • Army outscored BU off turnovers (15-7), in the paint (40-32), on second-chance opportunities (14-6) and in fastbreaks (18-10), but the Terriers' bench boasted a 24-4 advantage in point production.
  • The Terriers improved to 21-15 all-time in the series after avenging earlier 73-63 loss at Christl Arena.
UP NEXT
  • BU will next honor the six-man senior class and host American on Saturday (Feb. 12) with tip-off slated for 1 p.m.
  • The Terriers won the first meeting, 79-53, back on Jan. 10 in Washington, D.C.
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