'Cats Edged by Boston U. In Closing Seconds, 70-69

Wednesday, November 29

Durham, NH

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

1-6

Boston University

3-3

BOSTONU

New Hampshire

Photo by: Helene Bartsch

11/29/2017 10:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Video Highlights

DURHAM, N.H. – Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) and Josh Hopkins (Greensboro, N.C.) scored 20 and 19 points, respectively, and Iba Camara (Dakar, Senegal) recorded a double-double, but Boston University made one free throw with three seconds left in the game to record a 70-69 victory against the University of New Hampshire in Wednesday night's men's basketball game at Lundholm Gym.

Leissner scored his game-high 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the floor and 5 of 6 from the foul line; he also grabbed seven rebounds. Hopkins also made 7 of 12 field goal attempts, including four 3-pointers, to finish with a career-high 19 points.

Camara finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Cedric Hankerson led BU with 17 points. Max Mahoney added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds.

UNH is now 1-6 overall and BU is 3-3.

LOOKING AHEAD

New Hampshire continues its three-game homestand Dec. 2 (1 p.m.) against Bryant University. Tickets are available online at www.unhwildcats.com or by calling (603) 862-4000.

THE DIFFERENCE

Leissner corralled his own miss and tied the score at 69 on a layup with 11 seconds remaining.
BU pushed the ball upcourt and Javante McCoy was fouled on a drive to the basket. With 2.6 seconds on the clock, he missed the front end to keep the score deadlocked, but he made the second foul shot to give the Terriers a one-point lead.
UNH called time out and the long inbounds pass was deflected away to end the game.

GAME RECAP

BU scored on the opening possession of the game, but UNH surged in front, 6-2, on a dunk by Hopkins and two Camara layups.
Leissner's lone 3-pointer of the game matched the Wildcats' largest lead of the game – four points – at 11-7 with 16:03 on the clock.
BU went on a 9-2 run the next four minutes to take a 16-13 lead.
Hopkins drilled a 3-pointer to tie the score at 16 and another UNH 3-pointer – this time by Jordan Reed (Lucas, Texas) – put the 'Cats back in front, 21-20, midway through the first half.
The Terriers scored seven consecutive points to build a 27-21 lead with 5:40 left in the opening half.
BU led 30-26 with two minutes remaining and closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 12-point lead into halftime.
Trailing 44-34 with 16 to play, Leissner made a pair of free throws, Hopkins hit another shot from behind the arc and Jacoby Armstrong (Dallas, Texas) made a layup to trim the deficit to 44-41 at 14:29.
Hankerson's three-point play pushed the margin back to eight points, 51-43, at 11:27.
Less than two minutes later, Elijah Jordan (Orlando, Fla.) tipped the ball away at midcourt, Leissner picked up the loose ball and threw it through the rim to lift UNH within 51-49.
With the Terriers holding a 62-58 lead, the teams exchanged 3-pointers to advance the score to 65-61 at 4:18.
New Hampshire, which was in the double bonus the last 10 minutes of the game, trimmed a six-point deficit to 67-65 as both Leissner and John Ogwuche (Makurdi, Nigeria) hit to foul shots.
Camara pulled down a defensive rebound and hit a short jumper at the other end of the court to forge the sixth tie of the game, 67-67, at 2:27.
Havener's layup gave BU a 69-67 lead with 25 seconds to play, but Leissner responded at the other end to once again level the score.
BU made just 8 of 21 (38.1%) of its free throws, but that last one by McCoy proved to be the difference in the game.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Leissner, who played 39 minutes, became the fifth Wildat to record 1,500 career points. He supplanted Wayne Morrison (1972-76) for No. 4 on the program's all-time points leaderboard with 1,514.
Camara has a team-high four double-doubles this season and 20 in his career.
Camara has recorded double-digit rebounds in 32 games.
Leissner has scored 20+ points four times this season and 28 times in his career.
UNH made 14 of 17 free throws (82.4%) – all in the second half.
Hopkins, who played 38 minutes, scored 14 points (5-8 FGs, 3-4 3's) in the second half.