Terriers Stage Furious Rally to Triumph over Lafayette in OT, 73-69

Thursday, January 5

Boston, MA

7 PM

Boston University

9-7,2-1Patriot

Lafayette

2-14,0-3Patriot

OT 1

Lafayette

Boston U.

Photo by: Fia McCarty

Terriers Stage Furious Rally to Triumph over Lafayette in OT, 73-69

January 5, 2023 | Men's Basketball

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

BOSTON – Facing a 10-point deficit with 3:40 remaining in regulation, the Boston University men's basketball team rallied for a thrilling 73-69 overtime win over Lafayette on Thursday night at Case Gym.

The Terriers (9-7, 2-1 PL) hit all four free throws in the extra session and had career nights from graduate student Fletcher Tynen, senior Ethan Brittain-Watts, junior Miles Brewster and freshman Otto Landrum to remain unbeaten in 2023. Despite missing two starters and three of its top six scorers, BU was able to snap a nine-game losing streak in overtime contests with the last win occurring in 2017.

Tynen claimed his first-ever double-double with 13 points and personal-best 10 rebounds, while Brittain-Watts tallied a career-tying 19 points, highlighted by the layup that tied the game with 12 seconds left in regulation. Brewster posted a career-high 12 points as the 11th Terrier this season to score in double figures, and Landrum hauled in a season-high six rebounds to help BU win the battle at the boards, 44-30. Junior Daman Tate added 11 points as well off the bench.

Averaging 9.5 3-pointers per game, the Leopards (2-14, 0-3 PL) went 13-of-35 (.371) from behind the arc with Eric Sondberg (20 pts.),T.J Berger (17 pts.) and CJ Fulton (16 pts.) draining a combined 11 treys. Kyle Jenkins recorded a team-high eight rebounds and tied Fulton with four assists apiece. After seeing their game-high 10-point lead evaporate at the end of regulation, the Leopards went 2-of-7 in the extra session for the loss.

DOWN THE STRETCH

After Sondberg hit a 3-pointer to give Lafayette a 62-52 lead with 4:35 left in regulation, the Leopards missed their next eight shot attempts, including the go-ahead jumper from the side before the buzzer sounded.
Tate followed senior Jonas Harper's layup with a layup and free throw to cut the deficit to 62-57 at 2:58.
Brittain-Watts scored the last four points to send the game to OT, first hitting a pair of free throws at 2:19, another at 1:19 and finally the game-tying layup at 12 seconds on a successful drive to the hoop.
The teams went back-and-forth in OT with Devin Hines hitting his lone shot attempt, a 3-pointer, at 1:51 to give Lafayette its final lead at 1:51, 69-67.
Brittain-Watts tied the game on the next possession with another drive, and Harper followed with a defensive rebound and outlet pass to Brewster for an emphatic slam dunk at 1:15 for a 71-69 advantage.
After Lafayette missed a 3-point attempt, BU drained the clock and missed a layup before Tynen hauled in the offensive rebound.
Fouled yet again, Brittain-Watts calmly hit a pair of free throws at 12 seconds to seal the victory.

THE SETUP

BU jumped out of the gate to a 10-2 lead following Brittain-Watts' free throw at 16:10.
Jenkins and Fulton responded with back-to-back treys to spark at 14-2 run capped by Sondberg's trey at 11:30.
T.J. Berger extended Lafayette's lead to 26-21 at 4:12 following Jenkins' offensive rebound with another 3-pointer.
Tate though hit one of his own, and Brittain-Watts tied the game at 2:53 off a steal and his fastbreak layup.
Tynen briefly gave BU a 28-26 lead at 1:51 on the putback, but Sondberg retook the lead at 43 seconds from behind the arc for the 29-28 halftime advantage.
Lafayette carried the momentum into the second half with Berger and Sondberg adding two more treys to extend the lead to 37-28 at 17:33 to prompt a BU timeout.
BU would chip away, pulling within two (52-50) on Harper's 3-pointer setup by Brittain-Watts' steal.
The Leopards though came right back with a 10-2 spurt capped by Sondberg's bomb at 4:35 to grab the largest lead of the game before BU mounted the successful rally.

GAME NOTES

One point shy of tying his personal best in points set at New Hampshire back in November, Tynen earned BU's third double-double of the season by topping his previous career high of nine rebounds posted against both Navy and UMass Lowell during the 2021-22 campaign.
Brittain-Watts tallied at least five assists for the third time this season while adding two steals and tied his 19-point performance recorded at Notre Dame back on Dec. 7.
Landrum posted three blocks for the most by a Terrier this season with Tynen adding the other two blocks.
Junior Caelan Jones made his first career start, while sophomore Malcolm Chimezie made his second.
Adding Monday's come-from-behind win over Bucknell in which BU faced a 38-25 deficit before posting a 69-61 win, the Terriers have overcome double-digit deficits in back-to-back games for the first time since beating the Bison in the 2019-20 regular season finale and Navy in the 2020 PL quarterfinals.
The Terriers outscored Lafayette off turnovers (14-11), in the paint (26-16), off fast breaks (15-3) and in bench production (25-7).
BU improved to 5-1 at home for the second consecutive season, as head coach Joe Jones now sits at 196 career victories with the Terriers.
BU earned its fifth straight win in the series to improve to 19-8 all-time against Lafayette.

UP NEXT

BU will next visit American on Sunday (Jan. 8) at 2 p.m.
The Terriers have won the last three meetings though will face an AU squad that leads the PL with 11 wins this season against just three losses.