The Boston University basketball team has found themselves in a downward spiral headed into the last month of conference play. Coach Pat Chambers and his squad have fallen to fifth overall in the America East conference and have dropped two straight games against the upper echelon teams of the league. BU has suffered recent losses to conference foes Stony Brook, Maine, and Vermont, currently ranked first through third in the conference.

Four of the six Terrier wins have come against the bottom feeders of the conference UMBC, UNH, and Albany, who have only combined for five conference victories. BU has struggled against the better teams in the conference, getting blown out by 20 at Vermont last Sunday, January 17th, and recently getting defeated by 16 against Stony Brook. For the third consecutive year, BU has been picked as the preseason conference favorite to win the America East, but this statement is looking bleaker by the day. Coach Chambers has some serious work to do before their next game at Agganis Arena, this Thursday vs. New Hampshire. Continue reading Terriers in a Funk, Losers of Two Straight Games »

BC and BU will meet in next week’s 58th Beanpot final after each advanced Monday night by beating Harvard and Northeastern respectively. The Terriers and Eagles will meet in the final for the sixth time in last seven tourneys that the feat was possible (excluding the years when BC-BU is played on the first week). BC and Harvard danced for one period before the Eagles put the game away in the second and held on for the 6-0 shutout. The Terriers had a much more difficult time with Northeastern, finally pulling out a 2-1 win in the third period in an evening thriller. BU peppered the Huskies with multiple flurries, which they withstood, but the Terriers had just a little too much. BC will be gunning for its 15th title in its 29th finals appearance while the Terriers will be going for number 30 in their 47th championship game. The game next week will mark the fourth venue that the Commonwealth Ave. rivals will have played at this season. They have played at both Conte Forum and Agganis Arena, as well as Fenway Park and now the TD Banknorth Garden. Continue reading BC, BU Advance to Beanpot Final, UHN Leads Bunched Group in Poll »

Something had to give. Sure, Clemson came into Conte Forum as the 21st ranked team in the nation, but it also had lost its last two games. For Boston College, the drought was even worse, having lost five of its last seven. What gave was both teams. The Eagles dominated the first half, while the Tigers took the second by double digits. Luckily for the home team, their first half was superior than Clemson’s second, leading to a 75-69 win.

Rakim Sanders scored all of his 11 points in the first half propelling the Ealges to a 42-25 halftime lead. Clemson quickly jumped out to an 8-3 lead to begin the game. BC responded though, outscoring Clemon 39-17 the final 16 minutes of the first half. The Eagles shot better than 60 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep. They also cashed in from the charity stripe, nailing 12-of 16 (75 percent). Continue reading Eagles Snap Slump with Big First Half »

The seasons of the Terriers and Eagles are on opposite trajectories now. BU had a very tough start, but is rebounding lately and has now beaten their arch-rival in the last two meetings. They won the Fenway Classic and took out the Eagles in Chestnut Hill in a 5-4 overtime game. Meanwhile, BC seems to have peakedin December when they ripped off their big win streak. The Beanpot semifinals are Monday, February 1 with BU taking on Northeastern and BC taking on Harvard. With the Terriers hitting their stride now, is another Beanpot Championship in the offing?

Meanwhile, in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, Hockey East continues to place a number of teams in the second half of the top 20. This week, New Hampshire is the league’s top cat at 13 with BC, UMass, UMass-Lowell, and Vermont filing in line right behind them at 14 through 17 while Maine is at 19. Miami reclaimed the top spot overall with 37 of 50 first place votes and Wisconsin earned eight top votes to inch up one spot as well to second. Denver, the former number one, took the other five first place votes while dropping two spots to third. North Dakota moved up one spot to fifth and St. Cloud State was up seven spots to fifth. Bemidji State, at number seven, was also up seven spots. Continue reading BU Drops BC as Beanpot Looms »

Boston College had trailed for most of the game, but had the lead when it mattered most. The Eagles battled back to a three point advantage with 29 seconds remaining. Unfortunately all the work only led to more heartbreak. The ensuing possession resulted in a  Dallas Elmore foul led and two Virginia Tech free throws. The next time the Eagles touched the ball Biko Paris was pick-pocketed by the Hokies.

Virginia Tech nearly booted the Eagles gift way. Victor Davila lost the ball as he positioned himself under the basket, but Dorenzo Hudson cleaned up the mess and put it in to put the Hokies up by one with five ticks to go. Reggie Jackson did boot away the Eagles’ opportunity and no one was there to clean up his mess. Time expired and BC had lost its third straight, 63-62. Continue reading Loose Ball Layup Pushes Virginia Tech By BC »

Trio of Terriers Leads BU to Third Straight Victory

Coming off a stellar offensive game against the University of Hartford, where Corey Lowe and John Holland eclipsed the 30 point mark in the same game for the first time in school history, three BU players scored at least 20 points to lead the Terriers past a struggling UMBC team, 75-63. John Holland led the trio with 25, while Lowe and Jake O’Brien contributed 20 points apiece to pace BU. Last year, UMBC erased BU’s hopes for winning the conference tourney, upsetting BU in overtime. However, this year UMBC has struggled to win games, mostly due to having a young and inexperienced team. BU has been marred by a slow starts throughout the season, and this game began no differently.

BU fell behind quickly by seven points and were forced to fight back. BU fueled their comeback from beyond the arc and quickly erased the lead ten minutes into the game; they never looked back once they jumped on top, and only let UMBC cut the lead to six in the second half. Chris De La Rosa and Chauncey Gilliam led the Retrievers with 13 points each, as they saw their record fall to 1-14 (0-4). Continue reading Terriers Finish the Second Week of Conference Play Behind Vermont »