Instant takeaways from BU men's basketball's thrilling 93-91 double-overtime victory over Colgate
Kyrone Alexander delivered the game-winner with five seconds left in double overtime as BU won its ninth straight home game.
BOSTON — The Boston University men’s basketball team always seems to find a way at Case Gym.
It took an extra ten minutes, but the Terriers did what they do at home — win. BU has now won nine straight games at Case Gym, with Saturday’s double overtime win over Colgate, 93-91, the most thrilling of them all.
Here are three takeaways from the double overtime victory…
The third time’s the charm for Kyrone Alexander.
BU’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander, struggled through the first 45 minutes of play. Despite scoring 13 points, he was just 3 of 12 from the field and 1 of 7 from deep.
More importantly, he had two game-winning 3-point chances and came up well short on both.
At the end of regulation, tied 70-70, BU (13-14, 7-7 PL) tried to get graduate guard Miles Brewster driving on his right hand. Colgate, however, trapped the ball screen, and Brewster was forced to give it up. Kyrone Alexander was left with little time on the shot clock and hoisted a contested 3. His shot did not even reach the rim.
In the first overtime session, BU had the final possession once again, tied 79-79. Kyrone Alexander went into isolation mode on the right wing but his 3-pointer only grazed the front rim.
But finally, in the second overtime period, Alexander drilled two 3s to build up a seven-point lead. Colgate (11-16, 8-6 PL), led by Jalen Cox (25 points), fought back to tie it at 91-91.
BU went to Alexander once more. This time, he knifed his way into the lane and drilled a midrange jumper with five seconds to play.
Cox had one last look, a deep hoist that hit nothing but air.
Alexander finished with a team-high 21 points on 6-for-17 shooting.
BU dominated on the glass.
The Terriers outrebounded Colgate 46-30 and 20-6 on the offensive glass. The rebounding discrepancy resulted in BU taking nine more shots than the Raiders. Every single one of those shots mattered in Saturday’s double-overtime matchup.
Trailing by one with under a minute to play in overtime and the shot clock winding down, freshman forward Ben Defty missed a layup over star fifth-year forward Jeff Woodward. But junior forward Nico Nobili skied for the putback, which he threw off the glass and in to give BU a 78-77 advantage.
Ben Defty came up huge for BU.
The 7-footer from Germany entered the game late in the first half when BU was trailing 19-15. Defty then scored six straight points, earning positioning down low against Woodward.
Late in the second half, Defty came up clutch for another scoring run. The Terriers trailed 60-56 with under four minutes to go. But out of the under-four-minute timeout, Defty netted an and-one layup, cutting the deficit to one. On the next possession, he got fouled fighting for an offensive rebound. Defty drilled both free throws to give the Terriers a 61-60 advantage.
In double overtime, he swatted Woodward’s go-ahead layup attempt. He then raced up the floor and snagged a key offensive rebound while drawing Woodward’s crucial fifth foul. Defty drilled both free throws, putting the Terriers up 90-87 with just over a minute to play.
Defty finished with a career-high 15 points on 4 for 6 from the field and 7 for 7 from the free-throw line.