Memory Lane

As the tournament nears and the excitement grows, memories of past tournaments keep popping up. In the past 5 years or so, there have been some amazing games. Some have lead to drunken celebration, while some have ended in heartbreak, not just for the players, but for the fans as well.

The following is my list of the most memorable games in recent Terriers history, with both good and bad endings.

5. BU vs. Northeastern 2003 Semi-Finals

Earlier in the season, Northeastern managed to beat us on our own court, but we returned the favor with a sweet W a few weeks later in the dirty part of Boston. It lead up to this game. It was a nail-biter all the way, with great crowds of fans from each school screaming their lungs out, but when it came down to it, little J.J. Barea wasn't tough enough to pull out a win. We beat them, moving into the finals against dreaded Vermont.

4. BU vs. Maine 2005 Quarter-Finals

It was a sloppy, disgusting game from the start, with the only sound in the gym coming from three screaming, sloppy drunk assholes. Ten full minutes of the game passed and the score was 5-6. The game picked up, and was tight at the end. With 11 seconds left, Chaz Carr made two free throws, one to tie, and one to take the lead. Our celebration was interrupted when Maine inbounded the ball, took it up the court, and sank a wide, wide open 3-pointer with 2 seconds left. In the end, Chaz managed a shot from the top of the arc. It didn't go in, but it was close. That's when I learned that players can never let up, even until the last seconds ticks away.

3. BU vs. Hartford 2002 Semi-Finals

We've still got it on tape after it made ESPN's top plays. I'm talking, of course, about Stijn Dhondt's game winning three. The Hawks tied the game at 60, leaving .8 seconds left. Dohnt grabbed the half-court pass in mid air, landed, and banked the game winner. With .8 seconds left.

2. BU vs. Vermont 2003 Finals

This one is the heartbreaker. The big one. We had momentum from our win over NU, and we were playing on our own court. We'd done this before. We focused on Taylor Coppenrath, and minimized his points, but out of nowhere came Matt Scheftic with 21 points. The game winner with 5 seconds left was from non other than that perrenial jackass David Hehn. What was worse than helplessly sitting in the stands while Vermont fans celebrated on our court was reliving the experience when Big O brought a tape of that game to the Warehouse where we both worked one summer. He said he had the tape to study from it, but I think he just wanted to torture me.

1. BU vs. Maine 2002 Finals

The best memory I have of BU sports was storming the court after we won the America east tournament in 2002. The game wasn't even close. It was evident at half time that the game, the momentum, the plays, and the calls were all going our way, we had to win. Before last seconds even ticked away, students were running towards the center of the court and jumping into a mix of players, coaches, and fans. It was amazing.


Let's see what happens this weekend.