The Boston University Terriers got their revenge on Jan. 21, defeating the Eagles 59-54 in a rematch of last year’s Patriot League championship at Agganis Arena in Boston, Mass.
The Terriers’ defense that won the game. Sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson had nine of the team’s 11 steals, setting a school record for most number of individual steals in a single game. AU committed 13 turnovers to which BU converted into 15 points.
Hankerson earned player of the game honors for his performance, and in addition to his new school record for steals, he also contributed 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
"I thought BU was very aggressive tonight, especially on the defensive end, and their aggression won them the game," head coach Mike Brennan said, according to a press release.
The Eagles (11-8, 4-3 PL) also struggled with foul trouble all night. Senior guard John Schoof finished the game with four fouls, limiting his playing time to 24 minutes. Schoof currently leads the nation in minutes per game, with 39.3. Senior point guard Darius “Pee Wee” Gardner also recorded three fouls.
The Eagles started the game slow, hitting only three of their 13 three pointers in the first half. They picked it up in the second half, however, hitting 52.6 percent of their shots.
Down by three coming out of halftime, the Terriers (8-10, 4-3 PL) started strong and built a 15 point lead. The Eagles fought back however, sparked by junior forward Marko Vasic who had an excellent game off the bench, scoring 14 points. The large deficit proved too much to overcome and the Eagles ran out of time on their comeback bid.
Do-it-all junior guard Jesse Reed scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, leading the team in both categories.
Gardner chipped in seven points, six assists and four rebounds. BU’s physical defense, however, prevented Gardner from finding his rhythm and the basket. The senior collided twice and once was removed from the court for an injury timeout, but was still able to finish the night with 39 minutes played.
AU snapped its three-game winning streak with the loss while BU snapped a three-game losing streak. The Eagles move into a second place tie in the Patriot League, where they are now tied with the Terriers.Both trail Colgate and Bucknell for first place by only one game, however they are ahead of five third place teams by only one game.
The Eagles will look to bounce back against Army and pre-season Patriot League player of the year and leading scorer Kyle Wilson on Monday, Jan. 26, night for Phil Bender ‘pack the place’ night at Bender Arena.
