American Outlasts Men's Basketball, 64-62

Saturday, January 3

Boston, MA

1 PM

Boston University

5-10,0-2Patriot

American

9-6,2-0Patriot

American

Boston U.

Photo by: Dan Koerner

January 3, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Coach Jones Postgame Highlights

BOSTON - The Boston University men's basketball team came up just short in its Patriot League home opener on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 64-62 contest to American at Case Gym.

The Terriers (5-10, 0-2 PL) overcame a tough start, as the defending PL champion Eagles (9-6, 2-0 PL) led by as many as 16 in the opening half. BU came back and held a 49-44 lead with just under 11 minutes left in regulation before American responded with a 15-5 run. Facing a 64-62 deficit, BU forced a turnover on an in-bounds pass with 15 seconds left but had a 3-point attempt come up short, as the visitors hung on for the two-point win.

Freshman Chance Gladden led four Terriers in double figures with a game-high 19 points, helped in part by three 3-pointers. Sophomore Azmar Abdullah and junior Michael McNair added 14 and 11 points, respectively, while sophomore Ben Defty recorded 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his third career double-double.

Four Eagles also scored in double figures with Greg Jones totaling 16 to edge Julen Iturbe's 14 points for the team high. Geoff Sprouse matched Abdullah's four 3-pointers on his way to 12 points, and Madden Collins nearly had a double-double with 13 points and team-high seven rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After Defty and Gladden both hit a free throw for a 2-2 tie early in the contest, Jones hit his first of two 3-pointers to spark a 10-2 run capped by his two free throws at 15:59.
Freshman Sam Hughes responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession, but AU came right back with a 14-3 run featuring four 3-pointers, including two from Sprouse and the last by Jones at 9:04 for the Eagles' largest lead of the game.
Facing a 36-25 deficit with 2:12 remaining in the half, Abdullah scored from behind the arc and Gladden totaled four points off a drive to the hoop and two free throws to enter the locker room down, 38-32.
Abdullah kept the momentum going for the Terriers at the start of the second half with another 3-pointer, and McNair followed graduate student Malcolm Chimezie's two free throws with a drive to the hoop for the 39-38 lead at 16:53.
McNair completed a 3-point play at 10:46 to give BU its largest lead, 49-44.
After Abdullah struck again from behind the arc at 7:50 to retake the lead, 54-53, Jones hit a jumper with 6:39 remaining to put AU ahead for good.
The Eagles added four free throws to extend the lead to 59-54 at 4:58.
Neither team scored again for the next three minutes with Gladden finally snapping the scoreless drought on an emphatic slam dunk at 1:54.
After BU forced a turnover on the next possession, Matt Mayock help make a defensive stop by contesting a 3-point shot and hitting a tough jumper at 23 seconds for the 64-59 lead.
Gladden came right back with a driving layup and the free throw to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 18 seconds remaining.
The Eagles successfully inbounded the ball, but Gladden was able to tie it up for the steal three seconds later.
Following a called timeout, Gladden was just off the mark on his attempt for a fourth 3-pointer with a couple of seconds left.
Jones hauled in the defensive rebound and missed a 1-and-1 at 1.6 seconds, but BU was unable to get off a quality shot.

GAME NOTES

Following up on Wednesday's 26-point performance at Navy, Gladden tallied at least 15 points in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Defty's 12 rebounds topped his previous high of 11 set at home against Maine with 19 points back on Dec. 10. He previously earned his first double-double at Columbia (14 pts., 10 rebs.) on Nov. 18.
Graduate student Malcolm Chimezie hauled in seven rebounds and Abdullah totaled a career-tying six boards to help BU out-rebound American, 34-29.
Abdullah's four 3-pointers were one shy of his career-best five made treys earned against Howard last season.
BU earned a 10-8 edge in made 3-pointers (10-8) and 12-10 lead in free throws, but AU outscored the Terriers in the paint, 26-20, and more importantly off turnovers, 10-6.
AU snapped a five-game losing streak at Case Gym following its last win back in 2019.
In his postgame interview, head coach Joe Jones announced that graduate student Ethan Okwuosa will be out for the rest of the season due to injury, joining both senior Otto Landrum and junior Matai Baptiste. Junior and 2025 All-PL member Kyrone Alexander has yet to play since the season opener, and senior Ben Roy has missed three straight.

UP NEXT

BU will hit the road for Lafayette on Wednesday (Jan. 7) with a 7 p.m. start time.
The two squads split the series last year with both home teams prevailing after the road teams won in 2024.
During the 2025 campaign, BU first dropped a 60-46 decision and rebounded with a 66-64 victory.