Terriers take heart wrenching loss at home, Vermont slides by 76-75

By Angus Dunk

     Spirits were high at Agganis Arena Tuesday evening as the Boston University men's basketball team looked to topple the #2 University of Vermont Catamounts. However, Vermont Head Coach Mike Lonergan, who possessed a 95-57 UVM coaching record entering tonight's game, rallied his squad to come up with the necessary offense to catch up to the Terriers and record a 76-75 win in regulation.

     With 1:05 left in the second half, BU led 75-71 after senior guard Tyler Morris ('10) put in a lay-up. However, the Catamounts managed to compile five points quickly and go up by one point with nine seconds remaining. With a chance for one last rushing play, Morris passed the ball to senior guard Corey Lowe ('10) who lost control of the ball and turned it over, which allowed UVM junior guard Joey Accaoui to burn the remaining time on the clock.

     With the loss, Boston University dropped to 8-5 in America East play and 13-12 overall. UVM improved to 9-3 in America East Play, which makes it the team with the most wins in the conference, and 18-8 overall.

     After going into the locker room trailing 38-32 by the end of the first half, the Terriers put on a much better performance after their break. At the 13:10 mark in the second half, BU took its first lead of the game when senior guard Carlos Strong ('10) made a lay-up off of a carefully timed pass by forward John Holland ('11) that put the Terriers up 48-46. At 9:17, Boston University controlled its largest lead of the game when sophomore forward Jake O'Brien buried a dunk into the hoop to make it 59-55. From that point on, the game became a nail biter with the Terriers and Catamounts putting on an offensive show involving John Holland and Carlos Strong versus UVM's senior foward Marqus Blakely. The game ultimately came down to the last play, which resulted in a bad break for BU.

      Boston University remained sound offensively throughout the game despite trailing Vermont by 11 points (24-13) with 9:14 remaining in the first half. The Terriers entered tonight's game with the #1 scoring offense averaging 69.1 points per game (ppg.) while Vermont ranked #2 with 68.7 ppg. Boston University demonstrated its firepower in the second half when they out scored Vermont 43-38 and totaled 75 points overall on the night. Junior John Holland was the player of the game for both sides with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Holland provided an electric touch throughout the game for his squad completing 10 of 16 field goals and all of his six free throws. Guard Carlos Strong also provided a spark for the Terriers recording 19 points, five rebounds, and four steals.

      The Terriers didn't as fare well on defense though despite 23 defensive rebounds, nine blocked shots, and seven steals. BU has struggled in this aspect of its game all year long, even though tonight big men Jeff Pelage ('12) and Jake O'Brien ('12) provided solid presence around Catamount forward Marqus Blakely, who despite his 21 points, only shot 7 for 20 from the field. However, Boston University simply allowed too many points in the paint tonight as indicated by the amount of space the Terriers provided to the UVM squad. Even after botched shots by the Catamounts, BU continued to be too lenient. Within the paint, the Terriers allowed 36 points to be put into the bucket by UVM. Moreover, Vermont converted on 18 second chance points to make up for any woes they suffered due to inaccurate shooting.

      Other factors that plagued the Terriers were fouls (18) and turnovers (9); categories which Vermont didn't hold a distinct advantage in this game, but demonstrated more discipline around (14 fouls and 6 turnovers).

      Despite some struggles on defense, BU head coach Patrick Chambers still thought the team put forth a concentrated effort in this aspect.

      "This team has never played man-to-man defense for the last two to four years. I'm trying to teach them new things," said Chambers. "Our defense is getting better. Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job [in this regard]. We're close, [even though] we're not where I want to be yet."

       On the other side, Vermont was led by its star, forward Marqus Blakely who managed a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Moreover, Blakely also led the team in assists with three on the night. The more amazing feat though was the performance of junior guard Joey Accaoui, who despite playing only 16 minutes off of the bench, contributed 14 points for his team, finishing second on the night behind Blakely for UVM.

       Vermont didn't out due the Terriers in many areas of their game tonight except for better conversions on three pointers and free throws. The Catamounts converted a solid 15 of 19 free throws and shot 50% from beyond the arc (5 for 10). BU on the other made just over half of their free throws with 9 of 16 completed attempts and shot decent, but not great at 40 % from behind the three point line.

        Also interesting were the 18 points compiled off of the UVM bench, even though most were made by Accaoui, contrasted to Boston University's six. Coach Chambers stressed the significance a sixth player, such as senior guard Corey Lowe (10'), could have for BU in this area.

       "I get to get Corey going somehow. Maybe get him to the foul line, maybe get him some lay-up's. When, he gets to the foul line, we're a better team," explained coach Chambers. "It is what it is right now. We've got seven or eight guys with us and that's what were going with."

        Overall, the Terriers had a standout performance in the 2nd half, but Vermont demonstrated its ability to do things just a bit better throughout the game.

The Terriers next take on the Hartford Hawks this Saturday at Case Gymnasium at 4:00 p.m.