Alston, Fanning help BU edge American

Justin Alston scored 21 points, Eric Fanning hit two crucial free throws with 11 seconds left, and Boston University beat American, 65-64, in a Patriot League men’s basketball clash last night in Washington.

BU (14-11, 9-4) won for the fourth time in five games and remained in a secondplace tie with Navy, two games behind Bucknell. The game was close the entire second half, featuring five ties and four lead changes. Neither team led by more than six. A Max Mahoney layup followed by an Alston three-point play gave BU a 63-58 lead with 2:44 left.

The Eagles (5-19, 2-11) cut it to 63-62 with 15 seconds left. After a Charlie Jones foul, Fanning drilled two at the line to make it a threepoint game. In other N.E. games: Lafayette 69, Holy Cross 59 — In Easton, Pa., Matt Klinewski had 25 points and eight rebounds as the Leopards (7-17, 3-10 Patriot) snapped a nine-game losing streak by beating the Crusaders (12-14, 6-7), who were led by Robert Champion’s 20 points.

UConn 97, South Florida 51 — Rodney Purvis scored 23 points and the Huskies (11-12, 6-5 American) made a school-record 16 shots from 3-point range in a rout of the Bulls (6-17, 0-12) in Storrs, Conn.

Seton Hall 72, Providence 70 — Khadeen Carrington scored 21 points, Myles Powell hit the game-winning layup with nine seconds left, and the Pirates (15-8, 5-6 Big East) survived to beat the Friars (14-11, 4-8) in overtime in Newark, N.J.

Bentley 76, Southern N.H. 65 — Ryan Richmond’s 25 points helped the Falcons (11-11, 8-9 Northeast-10) upset the first-place Penmen (16-6, 12-5) in Waltham.

Babson 95, Springfield 77 — Joey Flannery (36 points) and Nick Comenale (21) combined to make 12 3-pointers as the Beavers (21-1, 11-0 NEWMAC), the No. 1 team in Division 3, swallowed the Pride (11-11, 5-6) in Babson Park.

MIT 68, WPI 66 — Tim Butala had 20 points, Cameron Korb scored six of his 16 in overtime and MIT (17-5, 9-2) maintained second place in the NEWMAC by holding off WPI (14-8, 5-6) in a battle of Engineers in Worcester.

Wheaton 73, Clark 68 — Quinton Dale had 15 points, David Carbonello added 13 off the bench and the Lyons (10-12, 5-6 NEWMAC) held off the Cougars (13-9, 5-6) in Worcester.

Bridgewater State 72, Salem State 61 — Fawaz Mass scored 23 points, Joseph Carty added 18 points and 11 rebounds and the Bears (139, 6-3 MASCAC) knocked off the first-place Vikings (14-9, 8-2) in Bridgewater.

Fitchburg State 84, Worcester State 70 — Jaleel Bell had 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Falcons (1210, 7-2 MASCAC) soared past the Lancers (6-16, 4-5) in Worcester.

UMass-Dartmouth 84, R.I. College 66 — Reserves Mert Sert and Tucker Bouchard combined for 24 points and eight rebounds as the Corsairs (15-7, 8-3 Little East) dropped the Anchormen (9-12, 3-8) in Providence.

UMass-Boston 60, Southern Maine 57 — Sam Freeman scored 14 points, Dan Powers grabbed 13 rebounds and the Beacons (12-10, 5-6 Little East) edged the Huskies (8-14, 3-8) at Clark Gym.

Nichols 92, Endicott 87 — DeAnte Bruton scored 38 points and Devin Stallings (15) had a go-ahead threepoint play with 1:34 left as the Bison (17-5, 12-3) created a tie atop the Commonwealth Coast Conference by edging the Gulls (17-5, 12-3) in Dudley.

Roger Williams 92, Gordon 85 — Austin Coene led five players in double figures with 22 points and Josh Syska (17) scored seven in the second overtime as the Hawks (18-4, 12-3 CCC) pulled away from the Fighting Scots (12-10, 9-6) in Bristol, R.I.

Wentworth 73, Salve Regina 48 — Dan DeVaux and Stephen Azums scored 17 points each as the Leoparads (11-11, 9-6 CCC) routed the Seahawks (8-13, 6-9) in Newport, R.I. In Top 25 games: Baylor 72, Oklahoma St. 69 — Johnathan Motley scored 24 points to help the No. 6 Bears (21-3, 8-3 Big 12) edge the Cowboys (15-9, 4-7) in Stillwater, Okla.

Cincinnati 60, Central Florida 50 — Kyle Washington scored 14 points and the No. 11 Bearcars (22-2, 11-0 American) extended their winning streak to 15 games by routing the Knights (159, 6-6) in Cincinnati.

West Virginia 61, Oklahoma 50 — Freshman guard James Bolden scored a career-high 17 points in 10 minutes and the No. 13 Mountaineers (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) beat the Sooners (8-15, 2-9) in Norman, Okla., for the first time in program history.

Florida State 95, North Carolina State 71 — Jonathan Isaac scored 21 points and the No. 14 Seminoles (21-4, 9-3 ACC) had no trouble with the Wolfpack (14-11, 3-9) in Tallahassee, Fla.

Xavier 72, DePaul 61 — Trevon Bluiett scored 20 points, and the No. 24 Musketeers (18-6, 8-3 Big East) overcame sloppy passing to pull away for their fourth straight victory, beating the Blue Demons (8-16, 1-10) in Cincinnati.

Women’s hoops

BU 71, American 62 — Sarah Hope had 24 points and the Terriers (9-14, 7-5 Patriot) held the Eagles (1112, 8-4) to 35 percent shooting at Case Gym.

Bentley 84, Southern N.H. 68 — Jen Gemma scored 21 points, Macchi Smith added 20 points and eight rebounds and the No. 19 Falcons (19-4, 15-1 Northeast-10) wrote off the Penmen (10-13, 5-11) in Waltham.

Men’s hockey

Providence 4, UConn 1 — Vimal Sukumaran scored twice, Scott Conway added a goal and an assist and the No. 11 Friars (17-8-4, 9-6-2 Hockey East) routed the Huskies (10-11-8, 6-7-4) in Hartford.