Box score

Jake O'Brien's turnaround jumper with 51 seconds left in overtime lifted the Boston University Terriers to a 69-64 victory over the Northeastern men's basketball team in a see-saw battle at Case Gym Wednesday.

"Today's game was hard-fought by both teams," Northeastern head coach Bill Coen said. "The difference in the game was that BU made plays when they had to."

With the score knotted at 53-53 to start overtime, the Terriers came out with a bang on back-to-back three-pointers by Corey Lowe and Tyler Morris.

The Huskies clawed back as they attacked the basket against a BU team that was riddled with foul trouble. NU made five of seven free throws to get within three, 63-60, and then Chaisson Allen found the net after driving to the basket for a layup to cut BU's lead to one, 63-62, with 1:25 remaining.

BU's John Holland made a bad pass that went back towards the NU goal, where Alwayne Bigby was fouled by Carlos Strong. Bigby made both free throws, and the Huskies went back on top 64-63 with 1:14 to play.

Boston University turned things over to O'Brien, who was guarded by Nkem Ojougboh, who was playing with four fouls. O'Brien backed in and made a turnaround jumper from his left shoulder, giving the Terriers the lead, 65-64.

The Huskies had two cracks to reclaim the lead. Matt Janning streaked down the baseline towards the basket, but his shot was off. The rebound came out to Strong, but he stepped out of bounds. The Huskies had 16 seconds left, but again Janning went down the right side and threw up a shot, but it missed. Lowe grabbed the rebound and tossed it to and open Holland cross court, and he dunked it for a three-point lead 67-64.

With nine seconds left, NU tried to tie, but BU stifled Baptiste Bataille, who threw up a three-point shot to no avail.

Janning, who was only 6-for-18 from the field, led Northeastern with 18 points. He also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in a well-rounded effort. Bigby, making his first collegiate start, had 16 points and seven boards.

O'Brien and Lowe each had 18 points to lead the Terriers.

The match, which was the first overtime contest between the two schools since 2002, was back and forth as both teams went on prolonged streaks.

The Huskies got out to a 9-0 start with long jumpers and causing turnovers. Janning got the scoring started with a long jumper inside the three-point line. Then Allen followed with a pair of jumpers, one three and one two. After BU fumbled the ball away, Bigby scooped up the loose ball and ran down for a dunk, giving the Huskies a 9-0 lead and causing BU to regroup with a timeout.

The Huskies got their lead up to 10 points, 14-4, after Janning drained a three-pointer, stole the ball from Morris and then fed Ojougboh, who dunked the ball into the basket.

The Terriers made a gradual comeback. After Bigby's three free throws at 6:20, the Huskies led 25-17, but went into a funk as the Terriers scored the game's next eight points, capped by Holland's three-pointer at 2:10, tying the game at 25-25. The half ended with a Bataille jumper in traffic, giving NU a 29-27 lead at the break.

In the second half, BU roared out with a 13-0 run to claim an 11-point advantage. O'Brien was the main culprit as he scored nine straight points for the Terriers between 19:15 and 17:21.

NU once again went on a streak of its own, scoring 17 of the game's next 22 points as Bigby showcased his talents. He scored nine of NU's next 11 points to get the Huskies within three, 43-40, with 10 minutes to play. Bataille then gave the Huskies the lead again with a pair of free throws at 8:15, a steal and then a fastbreak layup at 7:48, putting NU ahead 46-45.

Northeastern built a six-point lead, 53-47, as Janning began slashing towards the basket. He weaved through traffic to make an off balance layup at 5:52 and then  pulled a spin move around two defenders to get to the basket for another layup at 3:03.

That was all NU would score in the second half though as the Terriers chipped away. The Huskies missed their final three shots of regulation, and Lowe connected on a wild jumper with two seconds left on the shot clock to tie the game with 23 seconds to play. Janning's shot to win came up short.

The game came down to three-point shooting and free throws. The Huskies were only 3-for-15 (20 percent) from behind the arc and 17-for-26 (65.4 percent) from the free throw line. Boston University was 8-for-20 (40 percent) from long range and 15-for-16 (93.8 percent) from the charity stripe.

Northeastern will be back on the court Saturday against Wright State at Matthews Arena at 2 p.m. The game is part of a Husky Hoops Doubleheader with the women playing Army at 4:30 p.m.