March 8, 2008

Box Score

VESTAL, N.Y. - The Boston University men's basketball team fought through regulation and overtime as the Terriers (14-16) held on for a 68-64 victory over two-time defending America East champion Albany (15-15) in the quarterfinals of the league tournament held at Binghamton on Saturday. BU will face No. 2 seeded Hartford on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Albany took an early double-digit lead, but BU chipped away and cut it to just one point at the half. The Terriers suffered with foul trouble throughout the game, giving the Great Danes 39 chances at the charity stripe. Freshman John Holland (Bronx, N.Y.) came alive for BU in the second half, putting up 13 of the Terriers' 27 points in that period. BU's poor free throw shooting allowed the Great Danes to stay in the game despite the Terriers holding them without a field goal for 11 minutes at the end of regulation. Sophomore Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine) stuffed UA's last good scoring opportunity in overtime when he blocked Josh Martin with six seconds remaining.

With the win, the Terriers snap a seven-game losing streak to the Great Danes and advance to the semifinals of the conference tourney for the second straight year and the 18th time overall. BU split its games with Hartford this season, most recently claiming a 97-66 home win against the Hawks.

Strong shot 6-for-8 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from three to lead BU with 17 points. Holland added 16 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass.) chipped in 11 points. Red-shirt sophomore Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind.) added a season-high five assists. Albany's Brian Lillis scored 16 of his game-high 24 points on free throws, and Jon Iati contributed 16 points, including the game-tying three at the end of regulation.

In overtime, Lowe scored on back-to-back layups to put BU out, 60-56, with 3:25 remaining in the extra period. Lillis posted UA's first four points, but sophomore forward Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) hit the back ends of two sets of free throws, and Strong dropped in a floater with 58.4 on the clock to keep the Terriers in front by four, 64-60. UA's Al Turley made a pair of foul shots, and Brittain answered with two of his own to keep BU ahead, 66-62, with 28.1 seconds left to play. Lillis made two foul shots with 24 seconds remaining before Morris hit the second of two attempts at 12 seconds and Strong rejected Martin to seal the win.

Holland caught fire to start the second half, scoring BU's first eight points as the Terriers took their first lead, 37-34, since 18:25 in the first period. BU opened the half on a 13-6 run, going out to a 42-36 advantage at 13:56 on a 3-pointer by Morris. However, Iati made a triple to tie the game at 42 with 11:08 remaining in the game.

BU and UA knotted the score again at 44, when Great Dane Brett Gifford made the front end of a one-and-one at 8:07. But Lowe's three-point play with 6:35 on the clock put the Terriers ahead again, 47-44. BU kept its narrow margin while Holland and Strong came up with crucial baskets for the Terriers down the stretch. Holland dropped in a mid-range jumper at 5:01 to give BU some breathing room, 49-45, and Strong sunk a heavily contested three at 3:09 to extend the Terrier edge to 52-47.

However, Albany stayed right with BU by being nearly perfect from the free throw line, and Iati forced overtime by hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 10 seconds to go.

The Terriers held UA to 31.9 percent shooting for the game (15-for-47), while shooting 44.7 percent (21-for-47).

BU took an early 4-2 lead in the first half, but Albany went on a 7-0 run to go ahead, 9-4, at 16:09. Strong canned a 3-pointer at 15:04, and junior Marques Johnson (Hazlet, N.J.) followed with a triple of his own at 14:00, but two straight threes from Brent Wilson kept UA ahead, 15-10, at 13:28.

UA took a 21-13 lead after Iati hit a three and Wilson made both free throws on a one-and-one with 10:28 remaining in the first half. The Great Danes extended their advantage to double figures, 27-17, on a driving layup by Lillis at 7:23. Both teams suffered a nearly five-minute field goal drought during the final six minutes of the frame, but BU managed to trim Albany's lead to 30-26 when Holland drained both free throws with 21.8 seconds left after being thrown into the scorer's table, and Strong nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut the Great Danes' edge to one, 30-29 at the break.