By Breana Stephen
BU News Service
In their final game of the Steve Wright Classic tournament, the Boston University men’s basketball team cruised to a 86-69 victory against the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds at Case Gymnasium.
The Terriers three-game sweep of the tournament is their first since 1996, one of the victories being a thrilling win against rival Northeastern.
“We had a tough weekend, we had three games in three days,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “We played our arch rival on Friday night, and obviously that was an emotional [comeback] win. Then being able to come back yesterday and get it done, and then today playing against what I think is a very good team in LIU that is really physical and played very hard.”
After a 102-78 blowout win Saturday against Maine, the Terriers continued their dominance on both ends of the floor Sunday against the Blackbirds.
With the game’s only tie being early in the first half at 2-2, the Terriers began their comfortable lead at halftime with an 11-2 run, ignited by Cheddi Mosely hitting both of his early attempts and Freshman Tyler Scanlon hitting a three shortly after, Ending the half with a 44-28 Terrier lead.
Despite Blackbirds guard, Jashaun Agosto giving the Terriers a lot of trouble, BU maintained their tenacity on defense, especially in the paint. In addition to their defense, the Terriers took care of the ball well while facing full-court pressure throughout the first half.
“They came out with some pressure, I thought we were playing passively against it though,” said Jones. “We have to learn how to attack it a little bit more, but I was pleased with the way we were able to handle that.”
The Terriers had four players end the game in double figures, with junior Cedric Hankerson the leading scorer, finishing with 19 points. Coach Jones attributed their explosion on offense during the tournament to the depth that the team has.
“We just have a lot of good players. If it’s not [Cedric], it’ll be Fanning, it’ll Cheddi, it’ll be Tyler, it’ll be Destin off the bench,” said Jones. “There is just so many guys that can hurt you and they can all score.”
After sweeping the competition in the weekend tournament, the Terriers look to improve on their 3-1 start to the season. They play Western New England at Case Gymnasium on Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET, and hope to continue their dominance on offense and defense.
“I think defensively we need to get better,” said Jones. “I think we have a chance to be an explosive offensive team but we gotta keep the pressure on people defensively.”
