For once, it's not the hockey team, but the Boston University basketball team that's playing into late March. The Terriers defeated Morehead State 91-89 in an overtime thriller at Case Gym on Monday night to advance to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
After picking up their first postseason hoops win in 51 years on Wednesday at Oregon State, the Terriers made it two in a row despite not having senior guard and third all-time leading scorer Corey Lowe, who left the team to "move on to the next chapter of his life," according to coach Patrick Chambers.
But the players who needed to step up in his absence did. On Monday, junior John Holland scored 23, senior Carlos Strong netted 22, sophomore Jake O'Brien poured in 20 and senior Tyler Morris added 18.
BU held an 11-point lead with less than six minutes remaining, but Morehead State stormed back to tie it. The Terriers had three chances to win it on the last possession of regulation, but they couldn't get a shot to fall.
The Terriers didn't let the missed opportunities faze them, though. They scored the first seven points of the extra session, including five from O'Brien.
Morehead State once again, however, refused to go away. Down by six with less than 40 seconds to go, the Eagles scored five points on their next three possessions while the Terriers hit just one free throw at the other end to cut the lead to two with 11.9 seconds to go.
Morris finally broke through at the charity stripe for BU, hitting both of his freebies. Terrance Hill (24 points) drained a 3-pointer at the other end to pull Morehead State within one, but the Eagles' buzzer-beating attempt the next trip down wouldn't go.
The Terriers will now face Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday for the right to play in the championship.
