Nov. 17, 2007

Box Score

BOSTON - The Boston University men's basketball team made a late push for the second-straight game but fell short, as the Terriers (1-2) lost, 57-48, to Saint Joseph's (2-1) on Saturday evening in Agganis Arena in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

Sophomore forward Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) had a team-best 14 points and nine rebounds on the evening and earned America East Player of the Game honors. Junior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass.) was BU's second-leading scorer with nine points. Saint Joseph's had two players in double figures - Ahmad Nivins with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds and Darrin Govens with 15 points.

The Terriers got off to another quick start, taking an 8-4 lead on a pair of foul shots by sophomore Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine). BU stretched it to seven points, 15-8, after another set of free throws by Brittain at 8:45. But the Hawks went on a 17-5 run to end the first half, kicked off by a dunk from Nivins at 8:29.

BU's shooting accuracy improved in the second half, making 44.4 percent (12-for-27) of its shots after going just 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) in the first. The Terriers out-rebounded the Hawks, 35-33, but SJU out-shot BU, going 20-for-47 (42.6 percent) for the game.

Boston University trimmed Saint Joseph's lead to five, 32-27, at the start of the second half on a layup by junior Max Gotzler (Weilheim, Germany), but St. Joe's pushed its advantage back to double digits three minutes later. The Terriers didn't give up, however, and made a late-game run that sliced the Hawk lead to seven, 53-46, with 1:17 to go in the game on a layup by Wolff. Saint Joseph's answered by going 4-for-8 from the line to close out the game.

The Terriers return to action on Monday, Nov. 19 in their third doubleheader in six days when BU hosts Northeastern at 8 p.m. in Case Gym.