For thirty-six minutes it looked like Vermont would waltz home with an easy victory against their America East rivals, then the Terriers woke up. Boston University mounted a furious 15-point comeback over the final 3:28, only to miss two 3-pointer on their final possession, to fall just shy.
Both D.J. Irving and Darryl Partin had opportunities to tie the game within under 20 seconds to play but both clanged off the rim, as the Catamounts (14-10, 8-2 America East) escaped Agganis Arena with a 68-67 victory over Boston University (11-13, 7-3 AE).
Partin struggled for much of the game, having numerous shots go in and out of the basket, before having a tremendous impact in the final minutes. The senior guard led the Terriers with 19 points, including nine in a row in the midst of the rally. Overall he hit just 7-of-22 shots from the field and turned the ball over five times. Irving added 15 points and a team-high four assists, but no other Terriers reached double figures.
Redshirt sophomore forward Luke Apfeld led the Catamounts with 16 points and six rebounds. Fellow sophomore Brian Voelkel filled up the stats sheet with six points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Catamounts dominated the Terriers throughout the first thirty five minutes, grabbing every loose ball, consistently getting to the free line and suffocating the Terriers offense with their swarming defense. Yet it almost all came crashing down in the final 3:28.
With Vermont leading 59-43, the Terriers mounted a 24-9 rally behind their 3-point shooting and full court press. After missing their first 10 3-point attempts, the Terriers hit four in a row, including three straight from Partin, to cut the deficit to single digits (59-52 2:26 to play).
A few poor Vermont turnovers later and some missed free throws gave the Terriers two chances to tiein the final 20 seconds. Irving saw an opening and hit a layup with 20 second to go to cut the deficit to one but Four McGlynn ran the length of the court and hit a layup and was fouled to take the lead back to three. After he missed the free throw, Irving and Partin were set up for their final chances. In the end it was Mike Terry. Jr. hitting a meaningless layup with .1 on the clock-that gave the final margin.
Boston University will be back in action Saturday night, when they travel to winless Binghamton for a 7 p.m. contest.