In the Bison’s return home after going 0-2 in their first two away games of the season against Georgia Tech and James Madison University, the Howard University men’s basketball team secured the win over Boston University to get their season back on track.
Howard fans would also get to see the long-awaited debut of Seth Towns, a graduate transfer forward for the men’s basketball team, after being medically cleared by the NCAA to start his eighth season of college basketball. Jelani Williams, guard for the Howard men’s basketball team, made his season debut as well.
The teams were evenly matched in size, leading to a defensive battle throughout the first half.
Miles Brewster, a Boston University guard, would open the game with a layup off of a backdoor cut. Bryce Harris, a junior forward for Bison, responded with a three-pointer of his own. This sparked a rise in defensive intensity for the next two minutes with no shots being made and constant hustle plays, until Towns checked into the game at the 17-minute mark of the first half.
On his first possession, Towns hit a three off of a triple-threat move, making the score 8-4 in favor of the Bison, showing the impact he can make from the three-point line. He followed his opening basket with a steal, which came to the delight of his teammates, who cheered him on from the bench.
Towns spoke on being able to play in his first official game for Howard and how the atmosphere from the fans and his teammates made it a great experience.
“It feels good. It’s interesting getting back out in full force with a college basketball atmosphere but it felt really good man and I’m just happy to be able to do this with my team. The atmosphere was great. I love Howard,” he said.
Although Towns was able to give the team a boost, the Bison went back and forth with the Terriers throughout the first half due to the Bison’s inability to keep them out of the paint — leading to easy layups and open three-pointers from their inside touches.
The half concluded with the teams battling on the floor for a 50/50 ball, which mirrors the direction of the game to that point.
Natasha Cloud, a women’s basketball player on the Washington Mystics, attended the women’s and men’s games. She is a big fan of both programs and exclaimed, “Something about being (a) Bison makes you have the swag and that dog in you, and I’m excited to watch both teams play.”
The Bison would end the first half shooting 22 percent from the field while the Terriers shot 31 percent. The Terriers led a low-scoring first half 24-23.
The same hard-fought battle persisted for the early part of the second half. However, Harris got the Bison going with some tough finishes around the rim, followed by Towns hitting a couple of shots in a row from range to give the Bison the lead 37-36. Boston University would remain in the game through turnovers, limiting the Bison from capitalizing on their defensive stops.
The Bison would go on a run led by Harris to finally pull away from Boston University in the last five minutes of the second half. Timely buckets from Williams and Marcus Dockery, a junior guard, would help them seize the win. The final score read 64-53.
Harris led the Bison in scoring with 19 points and nine rebounds, with 15 of them coming during the second half, while Towns chipped in 13 points and six rebounds. Dockery went 6-6 from the free throw line in the game, adding nine points.
The team is not set to return to Burr Gymnasium until Nov. 28, when they match up against the University of Cincinnati.
Copy edited by Alana Matthew
