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Box Score

Boston U. BU 5-9,0-1 Patriot

Navy Navy 5-7,1-0 Patriot

Boston U. BU

5-9,0-1 Patriot

Final

Jan. 03, 2024

Navy Navy

5-7,1-0 Patriot

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Boston U. BU	29	31	60
Navy Navy	23	39	62

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | January 3, 2024

Navy Edges Men's Basketball in PL Opener, 62-60

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In a contest that went down to the final seconds, the Boston University men's basketball team came up just short at Navy, 62-60, on Wednesday in the Patriot League opener for both programs.

The Midshipmen (5-7) shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and held the Terriers (5-9) to just 32 percent to improve to 5-1 at Alumni Hall. The contest marked the first of the season to be decided by less than eight points for BU, while Navy competed in its third game decided by one possession.

Senior Miles Brewster, senior Anthony Morales and junior Ethan Okwuosa all finished with 11 points, while sophomore Ben Roy tallied 10 points. Sophomore Otto Landrum hauled in a team-high nine boards with Morales earning seven. The Terriers finished 19-of-56 (.339) from the field, including 6-of-24 (.250) from behind the arc, and 16-of-24 (.667) at the charity stripe.

Reigning PL Player of the Week Austin Benigni scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to help the Midshipmen overcome an early 12-point deficit, and Mac MacDonald recorded 17 points. Donovan Draper was three points shy of a double-double with 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Navy ended the contest 21-of-53 (.396), including 5-of-11 (.455) in 3-point territory to help overcome a 15-of-25 (.600) performance from the free throw line.

DOWN THE STRETCH

Facing a 51-43 deficit with 7:31 remaining, the Midshipmen scored nine straight points, helped by Draper's layup and free throw, to grab its first lead of the game, 52-51, at 4:56.
After the teams exchanged layups, BU scored four straight points on two Landrum free throws and Okwuosa's layup for the 57-54 advantage.
BU followed with another defensive stop but missed two free throw attempts on the next possession and would miss the final three field goal attempts of the game.
Navy would tie the game with 1:40 left on a pair of Benigni free throws and took the lead for good on Benigni's layup at 30 seconds.
Fouled with 10.5 seconds left, BU went 1-of-2 at the line and immediately fouled Navy down one.
Benigni responded with two free throws, and Navy forced BU back to the line with 4.6 seconds left instead of allowing the Terriers an attempt to tie the game.
After Brewster flushed both free throws, junior Ben Palacios forced a turnover on the inbounds while under the hoop but was pressured into a quick shot attempt that was off the mark.
Fouled with under two seconds remaining, Navy added a free throw and watched BU miss a desperate heave, as the buzzer sounded.

THE SETUP

After Brewster opened the game with a 3-pointer, both Morales and freshman Matai Baptiste scored from behind the arc to help BU jump out to an 18-6 lead with Roy scoring on Landrum's assist at 12:02.
The teams would go back and forth over the next 10 minutes, as Roy set up the slashing Okwuosa for a slam dunk at 29-18 advantage at 2:19.
BU though would miss its last three shots of the half and commit its seventh turnover that led to Navy's 3-point play to enter the locker room only leading, 29-23.
Navy remained on the attack and pulled within one, 36-35, on back-to-back MacDonald 3-pointers at 14:52.
Baptiste though responded with his second trey to spark a 10-0 run capped by two Morales free throws at 10:57.
Morales scored on a layup with 8:59 remaining to keep the lead at 11 points, 50-39, before the Midshipmen went on a 13-1 run over the next four minutes.

GAME NOTES

Brewster extended his personal-best streak of double-digit scoring performances to four games.
Morales became the 11th Terrier to score in double figures this season.
BU dropped to 5-1 when finishing ahead in made free throws (16-15).
Despite out-rebounding Navy, 43-36, with a season-tying 14 offensive rebounds, BU was outscored in second-chance points, 12-10.
Entering the game forcing opponents to 15.5 turnovers per game, Navy had BU commit 11 through the first 25 minutes of the game but only forced one more the rest of the game.
The Midshipmen won their sixth straight in the series to cut BU's lead to 12-11.

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