WORCESTER, Mass. – Undone by cold shooting in the second half, the Boston University men's basketball team came up just short at Holy Cross, 65-63, on Monday night.

Due to a scoreless stretch of seven-and-a-half minutes, the Terriers (8-14, 3-6 PL) faced a 64-57 deficit with 47 seconds remaining and rallied to pull within one on a pair of free throws at the seven-second mark. However, after the Crusaders (6-16, 3-6 PL) went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe at 5.9s, they prevented BU from getting a shot off to claim a point in the Turnpike Trophy all-sports competition.

Senior Miles Brewster tallied a team-high 13 points, while freshman Kyrone Alexander posted 12 points alongside seven rebounds. Junior Ethan Okwuosa added 10 points, and freshman Matai Baptiste hauled in a personal-best eight rebounds.

Caleb Kenney nearly earned a triple-double for the Crusaders, posting 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks, while Kahlil Singleton earned a game-high 18 points off the bench. Bo Montgomery matched Brewster and Singleton's three 3-pointers en route to 15 points. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• BU scored the game's first six points off Baptiste's slam dunk along with a layup and two free throws from Alexander at 16:42.
• After the Crusaders pulled within two two minutes later, 8-6, the Terriers went on an 11-3 run thanks to Brewster draining 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions with 11:16 left.
• Facing a 29-17 deficit at 7:05 on another Brewster trey, the Crusaders struck back with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes.
• Sophomore Ben Roy hit a layup to stop the skid, and the Terriers later scored the final two points at 9 seconds to enter the locker room leading, 37-33.
• The teams traded blows through the first seven minutes of the second half with BU grabbing a 52-45 lead on junior Ben Palacios' layup.
• Following sophomore Otto Landrum's free throw at 11:21 for a 53-49 lead, the Crusaders went on a 13-0 run over the next 7:30 with Singleton and Montgomery combining for three 3-pointers.
• Down by seven, 64-57, Brewster flushed a pair of free throws, and Okwuosa scored on a layup following Holy Cross' missed 1-and-1 at the line.
• The Crusaders missed another 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left, and Brewster added two more free throws when Holy Cross fouled instead of allowing a 3-point attempt.
• BU quickly fouled, and Montgomery went 1-of-2 before the Crusaders prevented the Terriers from getting a shot off.

GAME NOTES

• BU went 8-of-31 (.258) from the field, including 2-of-11 (.182) in 3-point territory, over the final 20 minutes after shooting 14-of-29 FG (.483) and 5-of-9 (.556), respectively. On the flipside, the Crusaders improved their 38.7 first-half FG% to 44.4 FG% in the second.
• The Terriers finished with a 41-37 advantage in rebounds and outscored the Crusaders in second-chance points, 12-7.
• BU has now owned a halftime lead in six of the nine Patriot League games.
• The Terriers dropped to 6-2 this season when making more free throws than an opponent and are 2-2 in games decided by five points or less after going 4-4 a year prior.
• Kenney's seven blocks are the most by a PL player against BU after five players tallied six apiece, including most recently American's Sam Iorio on Feb. 14, 2018.
• BU and HC are now tied in the Turnpike Trophy series, 5-5, following the Crusaders' doubleheader sweep. Both the men's and women's basketball teams will face off again at Case Gym on Saturday, March 2.

UP NEXT

• After playing three games in six days, the Terriers will have a mini-break and not play until Saturday (Feb. 3) when they host Lehigh at 1 p.m.
• Both home teams won last season with BU avenging a 66-55 loss on Senior Day, 59-56.