The men’s basketball team (1-2, 0-0 Ivy) hosted Boston University (2-1, 0-0 Patriot) Friday night in the Pizzitola Sports Center. In an eerily similar fashion to their loss to the University of New Hampshire last week, a first-half lead for Bruno vanished late in the game after BU seized the lead and claimed a 72-67 victory. But on Sunday afternoon at Lehigh University (1-2, 0-0 Patriot), the Bears finally redeemed themselves when 14 points from forward N’famara Dabo ’27 led them to a 65-55 win.
The Bears entered the two-game stretch intent on capturing their first win under new Head Coach Eric Reveno. After surrendering a double-digit lead in their season opener, the team was itching for wins against BU and Lehigh this past weekend.
Against BU, Brown’s first-half defense was stifling, with six steals compared to none from BU. Guard Rykan Woo ’30 turned up the Bears’ tenacity late in the half, stealing the ball from BU’s Azmar Abdullah.
Dabo and guard Brady Loughlin ’29 also stepped up. In the first half, Dabo managed seven points, and after Loughlin added an additional two threes, Brown was able to enter halftime with a 37-31 lead.
Headlining Brown’s offensive woes, Jeremiah Jenkins ’28 made only one of his six attempted three-pointers.
Still, back-to-back threes from guard Ray Cuevas ’28 increased the Bears’ lead to 47-38. After a three-pointer from Woo, Bruno’s lead hit its peak at 14 points — but the Terriers soon began to inch their way back.
Renevo told The Herald that “three straight turnovers and then some ill-advised shots” led to BU’s comeback.
After guard Isaiah Langham ’29 hit a free throw that put Brown up 58-47, the Bears turned the ball over five times in less than three minutes, and BU was able to close the gap to a mere 3 points.
From there, the game stayed within one possession until the Terriers went on a 6-0 run to take a 67-62 lead. Ultimately, Bruno was outscored 41-30 in the last 20 minutes, ultimately losing 72-67.
On the heels of the Bears’ second straight loss, Reveno stressed the importance of moving forward.
“There’s a lot of good things that are improving, and I think we’re making progress,” Reveno said. “We’re kind of trying to build the plane while we fly it.”
One of the game’s positives was Langham’s return to the Bears’ lineup. The shooting guard, who started 13 games for the team last season as a first-year, made an immediate impact — scoring 5 points during his first three minutes.
“It felt great to finally get back on the court and compete with my teammates,” Langham wrote in an email to The Herald. “I knew my name was going to be called at some point, and I wanted to make sure I was ready when that opportunity came.”
Brown carried this positive mindset into Sunday’s tilt at Lehigh. Despite allowing three turnovers in the first five minutes — allowing the Mountain Hawks to take a 14-6 lead — the Bears fought back quickly.
“At the beginning of the game, they came out and punched us first, but we didn’t back down,” Dabo wrote in an email to The Herald. “We kept fighting and responding to every run they made.”
Scoring 14 points, Dabo led the Bears for the second straight game. The forward added six rebounds and a block in his 27 minutes of action.
“Dabo was an anchor for us,” Reveno wrote in an email to the Herald. He added that Dabo was “just being a stud down low at both ends of the floor.”
The game remained tight throughout the first half, which ended with a Jenkins layup that put Brown up 27-25. Both teams refused to give in during the second half, and while Bruno secured a five-point lead with 11 minutes remaining, the Mountain Hawks remained tough and played the Bears close. As the clock wound down, the Hawks took a 53-51 lead with just six minutes of playing time left.
But the Bears took over from that point, making their next four field goals and a free throw to go on a 10-0 run and take a 61-53 lead, which was ultimately capped off by a left-handed finger roll layup from Jenkins.
Jenkins contributed to the Bears’ win on all ends. The guard scored 13 points, adding six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
“JJ was a great floor general that kept us on track at both ends of the floor,” Reveno wrote.
From there, Bruno never relinquished the lead. While the Mountain Hawks hit two free throws near the two-minute mark to make it a six-point game, they did not score again. Other than a couple of missed free throws from Jenkins, Brown played a clean final two minutes and came out with a 65-55 win — their first of the season and Reveno’s first at Brown.
“It felt tremendous to get the first win,” Reveno wrote. “The guys have worked really hard and are doing everything (the coaches) ask, so it is nice for everyone to be rewarded for their efforts with a great road win.”
Though the Bears had leads late in each of their first three games, this was the first time they managed to hold onto it until the final buzzer.
“This win showed us what we’re capable of when we play together, stay disciplined and compete for the full 40 minutes,” Dabo wrote.
Bruno will look to continue their momentum in their next matchup against Canisius University (1-2, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) Thursday night.
“We have to keep learning, improving every day in practice and carrying that same energy and toughness into every game,” Dabo added. “It’s a long season, and we want to keep building on this.”
