Lehigh Edges Men's Basketball, 70-67

Sunday, February 22

Bethlehem, PA

12 PM

Boston University

13-16,8-8Patriot

Lehigh

13-16,9-7Patriot

Boston U.

Lehigh

Ben Defty gets close to the hoop against a Northeastern defender

February 22, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Coach Jones Postgame

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Competing in a tightly-contested matchup that featured both programs shooting an identical 50.0 percent from the field, the Boston University men's basketball team came up just short at Lehigh in a 70-67 decision Sunday afternoon.

The Mountain Hawks (13-16, 9-7 PL) improved to 9-4 at Stabler Arena by tripling the Terriers (13-16, 8-8 PL) in made free throws, 12-4, alongside an 8-7 edge in 3-pointers. After BU cut a five-point deficit to one on a pair of buckets from sophomore Ben Defty, Nasir Whitlock scored on a layup with eight seconds remaining and hit both free throws at the four-second mark to seal the victory following junior Michael McNair's 2-for-3 trip to the line.

Both McNair and freshman Chance Gladden led BU with 17 points apiece, while Gladden added five rebounds alongside four assists. Defty nearly had a double-double at 14 points and game-high eight rebounds. Coming off Monday's program record-tying 18 made 3-pointers against Colgate, Abdullah and McNair shot a combined 6-for-12, but the rest of the squad only had one off nine attempts.

Shooting 9-for-9 at the charity stripe and 9-for-16 from the field, Whitlock tallied 30 points with four assists. Jalen Vazquez added 10 points and two steals, while Joshua Ingram earned seven points, five rebounds and four assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first half featured nine lead changes with Whitlock pushing Lehigh ahead, 14-13, on two free throws at 10:18.
Defty and Gladden combined for nine straight points with Gladden forcing a turnover and then setting Defty up for a layup at 22-14 lead with 6:26 remaining in the half.
Facing a 24-16 deficit, Vazquez scored from behind the arc to spark a 13-4 run capped by Whitlock's layup to give the Mountain Hawks a 29-28 halftime lead.
BU started the second half on fire, shooting 10-for-11 FG and perfect 5-for-5 in 3-point territory to grab a 53-40 lead at 11:06 with Abdullah draining three of the 3-pointers and McNair hitting the other two.
Freshman Donte Tisinger Jr. gave BU its final double-digit lead, 59-48, with 8:59 remaining on a jumper.
The Terriers missed their next three shot attempts and committed two turnovers, as Lehigh went on a 12-0 run capped by Vazquez's two free throws at 4:41 to grab its first lead of the second half.
After McNair drove to the hoop for a 61-60 lead on the Terriers' next possession, Lehigh scored six straight on a free throw, jumper and lastly 3-pointer at 1:58.
Defty responded with a hook shot at 1:40 and then layup with 37 seconds left to pull within one, 66-65.

GAME NOTES

McNair tied the single-season program record for made 3-pointers at 95 total alongside John Papale ('16) and tallied 17+ points for the 16th time this season.
Gladden scored 17+ points for the eighth time.
Graduate student Malcolm Chimezie appeared on the court for the first time since the win over Army on Jan. 10.
Lehigh became the first opponent in 10 games to reach 70 points in regulation.
Whitlock scored 30 points for the second time against BU following the Mountain Hawks' 93-91 OT win back in January.

UP NEXT

The Terriers will return to Case Gym Wednesday night (Feb. 25) for their final home game of the regular season with Holy Cross making a visit at 7 p.m..
BU claimed a 72-64 win at the Hart Center back on Feb. 2 to start off the current five-game win streak.
Shooting 54.3 FG%, BU finished ahead in made 3FGs (10-8) and in made FTs (12-6) to overcome an 11-2 disadvantage in points off turnovers.