Terriers, Mountain Hawks Set to Battle in PL Final Wednesday Night on CBS Sports Network

Wednesday, March 11

Bethlehem, PA

7 PM

Boston University

Lehigh - PL Final

Buy Tickets

Terriers, Mountain Hawks Set to Battle in PL Final Wednesday Night on CBS Sports Network

March 10, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Listen Watch on CBS Sports Network Live Stats Game Notes BU Pregame Event Registration PL Tournament Central BU Today Preview

2026 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
#4 Boston University (17-16, 10-8 PL) at #2 Lehigh (17-16, 11-7 PL)
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 11 | 7 p.m.
Venue: Stabler Arena | Bethlehem, Pa.
X: @BUGameDay | @TerrierMBB

BOSTON – Seeking the program's first Patriot League title since 2020, the No. 4 seeded Boston University men's basketball team will battle No. 2 Lehigh in the championship final with Wednesday's tip-off slated for 7 p.m. at Stabler Arena on CBS Sports Network.

The Terriers reached their 18th conference final by eliminating both 2025 title game participants in No. 5 American (75-73) at home and No. 1 Navy (73-72) on the road, while the Mountain Hawks held off No. 10 Holy Cross (69-66) and No. 3 Colgate (76-69) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. BU and Lehigh will battle for the fifth time in the PL tournament and first with the automatic NCAA bid on the line.

TERRIER TIDBITS

BU's victory against the top-seeded Midshipmen marked the Terriers' first one-point win in a conference tournament since eliminating Canisius, 62-61, in the 1986 ECAC North Atlantic semifinals.
Ranking fourth nationally at 45.6 3FG%, All-PL First Team member Michael McNair leads the Terriers at 17.0 ppg, while 2nd Team honoree Ben Defty is averaging a team-high 6.7 rpg with 14.9 ppg. Defty ranks second in the country shooting 69.2 FG%.
A Third Team honoree, freshman Chance Gladden is third on the squad at 14.5 ppg with a team-high 4.7 apg after hitting the game-winning buckets against both the Eagles and Midshipmen.
BU picked a great time to win its first two games of the season when finishing behind in rebounds with the quarterfinal victory over defending PL champion American and semifinal win at reigning regular season champion Navy. The Terriers are currently 2-10 in such situations and 14-6 when outrebounding an opponent.
The Terriers are averaging 75.9 ppg and a current program-record 49.8 FG% while holding opponents to 73.9 ppg and 46.0 FG%.
Since winning the 2020 PL title at Colgate, BU is 5-5 in PL tournament action with three of the losses occurring in overtime in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
BU is 56-38 (.596) all-time in conference tourneys and 13-11 in the PL with three title game appearances (2014, 20, 26).
BU is 7-10 (.417) all-time in conference finals and is 3-5 all-time in PL road games with wins at Lehigh (2018 quarterfinal), Colgate (2020 final) and Navy (2026 semifinal).
The Terriers are now 4-2 (.667) all-time as a No. 4 seed after upsetting No. 1 Stony Brook in 2010 America East semis hosted by Hartford and falling at No. 2 Vermont in the title game. They came up short to Navy in 2025 in a 4 vs. 5 matchup but avenged the loss on Sunday in thrilling fashion.

SCOUTING LEHIGH

The Mountain Hawks own a 12-4 record at home compared to 5-12 away mark with non-conference win vs. Saint Francis.
They are 8-2 at home against Patriot League schools with losses occurring in OT to both Navy (2OT) and Army West Point.
Four Mountain Hawks are averaging double figures in points with 6-foot-2 junior Nasir Whitlock owning a team-high 21.1 ppg that ranks 17th nationally.
Both Whitlock and 6-foot-4 junior Joshua Ingram (10.4 ppg) are averaging a combined 6.8 apg and 2.5 spg, while 6-foot-9 Hank Alvey (15.0 ppg) ranks 37th at 1.8 bpg.
As a team, Lehigh is currently averaging 73.2 ppg and 46.5 FG% while holding opponents to 74.4 ppg and 44.7 percent.

SERIES HISTORY

BU leads the all-time series, 17-12, after Lehigh swept the regular season series by a combined five points.
The Mountain Hawks first escaped with a 93-91 OT win at BU and then eeked out a 70-67 home victory after the Terriers were unable to send the game to OT by shooting 2-for-3 at the line with 4.6 seconds left in regulation.
Highlighted by a banked 3-pointer that sent the first contest to overtime at Case Gym, Whitlock became the first player in over two decades to score 30+ points twice in one season against the Terriers.
Both McNair and Defty averaged 20 points in the two meetings, while Gladden averaged 13.5 ppg alongside 8.0 apg.
The Terriers combined for a 51.7 FG%, but the Mountain Hawks (49.6 FG%) totaled a 19-13 advantage in made 3-pointers and 32-25 lead in free throws, 32-25.
In PL tournament action, BU is 1-0 at Lehigh after posting an 88-82 quarterfinal victory in 2018. The Mountain Hawks are 2-1 at Case Gym thanks to overtime semifinal victories in 2017 (91-88 2OT) and 2024 (84-79).

LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday's winner will learn its placement in the NCAA bracket when the tournament selection show airs starting at 6 p.m. on CBS Sunday evening.
Both BU and Lehigh have RPIs below 200, making a trip to the first four round hosted by Dayton on March 17-18 the most likely destination for the PL champion.