Kyrone Alexander’s double-overtime game-winner lifts BU men’s basketball past Colgate
Sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander netted the game-winner with five seconds remaining in double overtime, as BU extended its home winning streak to nine games.
BOSTON — For sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander, the third time’s the charm.
Alexander, BU’s leading scorer, had the final shot at the end of regulation and overtime on Saturday afternoon. He came away empty both times.
But in double overtime, tied at 91, BU drew up a dribble-handoff to get Alexander the ball in the middle of the floor. The sophomore guard took the handoff and drifted toward the right wing.
It was the same play the Terriers had drawn up at the end of the first overtime. On that play, Alexander had settled for a stepback 3, which only grazed the front rim.
This time, he exploded into the painted area, with Colgate senior guard Nicolas Louis-Jacques attached to his hip.
Alexander picked up his dribble at the Patriot League logo, a step inside the free throw line, and leaned into an off-balance smothered shot over Louis-Jacques. The ball hit the front rim and the backboard before falling through the net with five ticks on the timer.
Roars echoed through Case Gym.
Colgate’s final heave from sophomore guard Jalen Cox (25 points) was well off the mark as BU escaped with a 93-91 victory.
“I mean, felt like I had a favorable matchup,” Alexander said of his game-winner. “Got to my spot. Rose up. Rest was history.”
“I had all confidence, like, once I get a clean look, it’s gonna go in,” he added.
It took 10 extra minutes, but the Terriers (13-14, 7-7 Patriot League) did what they do at home — win. Alexander’s game-winner capped off BU’s ninth straight win at Case Gym, marking its longest home winning streak since 2011.
BU also snapped a six-game losing streak to four-time defending Patriot League champion Colgate (11-16, 8-6 PL). In the most recent loss, an 87-50 blowout in Hamilton, N.Y. on Jan. 11, the Raiders drilled their first nine 3s of the game and never looked back.
“Huge win, obviously, for the standings, for our confidence,” said Alexander (team-high 21 points). “To come here and protect our home court after going up there and losing in a fashion that we did not like.”
Colgate connected on 32 of 62 field goals (51.6 percent). BU made just 30 of 71 (42.3 percent).
The Terriers made up for the shooting discrepancy with relentlessness on the glass. BU outrebounded the Raiders, 46-30, and snagged 20 offensive boards to Colgate’s six.
“That’s the difference in the game,” associate head coach Mike Quinn said. “How do you make up that shooting difference? We got extra possessions on the glass.”
“Shots can fall or not. But those toughness plays, rebounds, you can always rely on that,” freshman forward Ben Defty echoed.
Defty, a 7-footer from Germany, anchored the Terriers down low, netting a career-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting and a perfect 7 for 7 from the foul line. He added seven rebounds — five offensive — and four blocks.
“I just take what kind of the game gives me, try to play my game,” said Defty.
“Ben is a guy who comes in and he wants to impact winning,” Quinn said. “Loved what he did tonight with that.”
The Terriers had plenty of chances to win in both regulation and overtime. Colgate, however, would not go quietly.
Graduate guard Miles Brewster drilled two free throws with 15 seconds left in regulation to put the Terriers up 70-67. But BU lapsed in transition coverage after the free throw, leaving Louis-Jacques (16 points) wide open on the right wing for a game-tying 3.
“That three at the end of regulation, that was a mistake on our end to give that one up,” said Quinn. “We got to do a better job of matching up.”
On its first chance to win the game, BU drew up a play to get Brewster driving downhill off a ball screen. It is BU’s go-to late-game action. The Raiders were prepared and aggressively double-teamed the Terrier co-captain. With just three seconds on the clock, Brewster tossed a pass to Alexander, who was forced to heave a contested 3 that caught no piece of the basket.
“Ky didn’t have a ton of time or space to go there,” Quinn said.
The Terriers took a four-point lead, 76-72, with just over two minutes remaining in the first overtime. Cox, who scored 13 of his 25 points in the overtime sessions, netted a layup to cut the deficit to two. Louis-Jacques drilled a go-ahead 3 on the next possession.
Junior forward Nico Nobili put the Terriers back in front with under a minute left in overtime on a putback layup. Brewster forced a steal on Colgate’s ensuing possession and the Raiders intentionally fouled Nobili with 23 seconds to play.
Nobili split the pair of free throws to give BU a 79-77 advantage.
Cox burst downhill and drew a foul on Brewster, then hit both free throws to re-establish a tie.
“Cox, he’s hard to guard,” Quinn said. “He was coming with a head of steam, and we were trying to stop him one-on-one, so we didn’t give up a 3 late game, which is not an easy thing to do.”
The Terriers opened the second overtime period on a 9-2 run, led by two Alexander 3s. The seven-point lead, 88-81, was BU’s largest of the game.
Colgate responded with back-to-back 3s from Cox and junior guard Brady Cummins.
Two more layups from Cox eventually tied the game with 21 seconds to play.
Alexander’s ensuing game-winner finally delivered the knockout blow.
“There were some moments there where it looked like we had the game in hand, and they made some big shots,” said Quinn.
“But the thing that I liked is that could have deflated a team,” he added. “Or you got to move on to the next play and just fight. And I thought we did that.”
The Terriers had five double-digit scorers. Joining Alexander and Defty, Brewster had 13, as did Nobili. Sophomore guard Mike McNair scored 12.
“The contributions from a lot of different guys. You know, the toughness plays. And then to win a close game like this, you walk away feeling great,” Quinn said. “But in the end, it’s still just one game.”
“It’s coming down the stretch here, so we want to be playing our best basketball,” he added. “We certainly want to use this as momentum.”
As Quinn got up from the postgame press table, a reporter had one final question: “Were you ready for a third overtime?”
“We’re happy that we got it done in two,” Quinn responded with a chuckle.