BOSTON – Highlighted by 11 3-pointers and an impressive performance at the charity stripe, the Boston University men's basketball team ended the regular season with an 94-84 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon at Case Gym.

Clinching the No. 2 seed along with a home Patriot League quarterfinal game for Thursday (March 7) night, the Terriers (15-16, 10-8 PL) will enter a conference tournament with a 5+ game win streak for the first time since the 2010-11 season. BU went a near perfect 25-of-26 (.962) from the free throw line to produce its highest ever offensive output in a Patriot League game, while the Crusaders (9-22, 6-12 PL) shot 13-of-17 (.765).

In his first career start on Senior Day, senior Anthony Morales tallied a game-high 20 points, while classmate Miles Brewster tallied 17 points, game-high seven rebounds and five assists. Freshman Kyrone Alexander added 15 points, and sophomore Nico Nobili finished in double digits at 12 points.

Will Batchelder also had 20 points for the Crusaders with the help of five 3-pointers, while Joe Octave earned 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Caleb Kenney earned 18 points alongside seven rebounds as well, and Bo Montgomery earned 12 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half featured six lead changes and three ties through the first six minutes of action with Alexander responding to Batchelder's 3-pointer with a driving layup to tie the game, 13-13, at 14:05.
• After freshman Matai Baptiste scored from behind the arc, Alexander earned a block and fastbreak 3-pointer while being fouled to extend the BU lead to 20-13 with 12:51 remaining.
• Joe Nugent responded with a trey to cut Holy Cross' deficit to four, but the Crusaders would not get any closer the rest of the half.
• Morales gave BU its first double-digit lead at 10:08 on his first 3-pointer, 28-16, and added another three minutes later to pull ahead, 38-25.
• He later went a perfect 5-of-5 at the line in the final minute, highlighted by three shots in the final second after being fouled attempting a 3-pointer, to enter the locker room with a 53-36 advantage.
• The Crusaders jumped out to a 19-5 run helped by a pair of Batchelder 3-pointers, to cut the deficit to 58-55 on Octave's trey with 14:06 remaining.
• Junior Ethan Okwuosa and Baptiste responded with back-to-back treys to keep the lead at multiple possessions for the rest of the contest.
• After Morales hit two free throws to grab an 83-70 lead with 3:01 left, the Crusaders tried to mount another rally, cut the deficit to 86-80 at 1:28 on Nugent's layup.
• The Crusaders earned a defensive stop on the next possession, but BU came back with one of its own to draw a trip to the line.
• The Terriers sealed the victory by hitting all eight free throw attempts in the final 52 seconds.

GAME NOTES

• Besides recognizing Brewster and Morales, BU also honored seniors Evan Haber and Andrew Patnode. Joining the team this past off-season after previously serving as a team manager, Haber was able to make his seventh appearance in the final minute. Patnode was sidelined by injury after appearing in the first eight games of the year.
• The athletic department also recognized in a pregame ceremony BU alum Doug Brown (COM'78), who will retire at the end of the season after served as the voice of the men's basketball for a combined 35 years while also covering multiple other BU sports via TV, radio and streaming.
• BU's 94 points surpassed the previous team conference high of 92 set in both 2020 (92-77 vs. Loyola) and 2018 (92-81 vs. Lehigh). The Terriers are now 6-0 all-time when scoring at least 90 points in a PL game. 
• Morales scored at least 20 points for the third time this season.
• Alexander finished with a personal-best three blocks, while Kenney only had one for the Crusaders after earning seven back in January against the Terriers.

UP NEXT

• BU will enter the PL tournament as the No. 2 seed and host a PL quarterfinal game on Thursday (March 7). 
• The Terriers will welcome either No. 7 Navy or No. 10 Loyola Maryland to Case Gym.
• BU swept the Greyhounds by a combined five points and split the series with the Midshipmen that saw the home team win both contests.