Jan 12, 2002
Box Score
BOSTON - Freshman forward Rashad Bell (Queens, NY) scored a game- and career-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, leading the Boston University men's basketball team to a 90-54 America East win over Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon at Case Gym.
Bell and fellow freshman Chaz Carr (Manchester, CT) accounted for 36 points. Carr had 15 points on 3-for-7 shooting and an 8-for-8 effort from the free throw line. As a team, the Terriers made 25-of-29 free throws.
Stony Brook (2-14, 1-4) had early troubles getting the ball over halfcourt against the Terriers full-court press, and B. U. capitalized by jumping out to an 11-1 lead three minutes into the game. Junior forward Billy Collins (Concord, NH) had five-points in the run, including a three-pointer and a dunk, which was converted after he stole the ball on the front end of the Terrier press.
The Seawolves cut the lead to 33-26 with 3:30 left in the half on a three-pointer by Mike Konopka. Bell, though, spurred a 13-3 run to end the half by scoring nine points to give the Terriers a 46-29 lead at the break. Bell finished with 12 points in the half, a total that doubled his previous career high of six points. Collins was also in double figures at the half, with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The visiting Seawolves cut the lead to 46-33 with 18:52 left on a layup by Jairus McCollum, but the Terriers pulled away from that point. B. U. went on a 26-7 run over the next 10 minutes, claiming a 72-40 advantage with 8:09 remaining. The lead never dropped below 29 points and Terrier head coach Dennis Wolff put in the reserves in the final five minutes.
B. U.'s advantage grew to 90-52 with 23 seconds to play. The 90 points scored was a season high for the Terriers, as was the teams' 24 assists. The 36-point margin of victory was the Terriers' largest of the season.
"Stony Brook has struggled handling the ball," said Wolff. "My thought was that if we could get after them with the press, we could take them out of any semblance of a halfcourt offense, which is what happened."
"Rashad Bell's last two games have been his two best games of the season," said Wolff. "We had contributions from a lot of different players. Our two guards had 11 assists between them, we had guys on the boards, and we had a lot of energy on the front of the press, which disrupted them."
For the second straight game the Terriers had four players score in double figures. In addition to Bell and Carr, sophomore forward Jason Grochowalski (Shrewsbury, MA) added 14 points, and Collins had 12 points and three steals.
D. J. Munir and JonPaul Kobryn led Stony Brook with 11 points each.
The Terriers continued to rebound the ball well, winning the battle of the boards. 45-32. Collins and sophomore forward Ryan Butt (Lancaster, PA) each led B. U. with eight rebounds.
B. U. hasn't allowed an opponent to shoot over 40 percent from the field in five games. The Terriers held Stony Brook to 36.5 percent shooting (19-for-52) in the game.
B. U. (10-7, 4-1) has a week off before its next game. The Terriers play on Sunday, Jan. 20, at America East-rival Northeastern in a 2 p.m. game. The game will be televised locally on Channel 56 as part of the America East television package.
