Mason Madsen did not lead Boston College men’s basketball in scoring, assists, or rebounds during Tuesday night’s matchup against Florida State. But when the Eagles were in desperate need of some energy, Madsen came off the bench and provided just that—an undeniable spark.
With 12:13 remaining in the second half, Madsen sprinted down the court for a transition layup. He sank a three ball less than a minute later to cut the Seminoles’ lead to two points, 48–46.
But with 53 seconds left and the Eagles down by three points, the Madsen magic ran out. He airballed a potentially game-tying 3-pointer, and FSU secured the rebound.
Despite ample late second–half chances at securing a win, the Eagles (13–9, 4–7 Atlantic Coast) fell to the Seminoles (13–9, 7–4) 63–62 on Tuesday night at home.
After an FSU 3-point miss with 24 seconds to go, Jaeden Zackery got the board and sent the ball upcourt to Devin McGlockton, who picked up a layup that put the Eagles within a point with the Seminoles up 63–62. The Eagles would have one more chance at a win.
“We just wanted to get a shot at the rim,” BC head coach Earl Grant said.
With 5.8 seconds on the clock, BC inbounded the ball to Quinten Post. The ball ended up loose, and Zackery chased it into the corner as FSU defenders swarmed him. Zackery ended up putting up an off-balance shot from the corner that failed to beat the buzzer and rattled out of the rim, allowing the Seminoles to go home with a 63–62 win.
“Couldn’t exactly tell you,” Post said when asked what BC was looking for on its final play.
The clumsy final possession closed out a contest in which the Eagles never led, but made several second-half runs that put them just within reach of victory. Despite these surges, however, the Seminoles successfully maintained their advantage, no matter how close the Eagles came to taking it.
“You can’t almost be there, right?” Post said. “Because almost doesn’t mean anything.”
BC got off to a slow start, going down 11–2 five minutes into play. Turnovers plagued the Eagles from the tipoff, and FSU secured 19 points off turnovers by the end of the night.
“We got down big,” Grant said. “And some of that was Florida State’s length, you know, and athleticism. Some of it was our decision making.”
Despite a tumultuous start, the Eagles began to find their groove late in the first half. A layup from Madsen, coupled with shotmaking from Zackery and Claudell Harris Jr., put the Eagles down 31–26 with 4:50 remaining. A 3-point make from Post with 3:10 left on the clock cut the Eagles’ deficit to four points, but BC was unable to catch FSU and headed into the locker room down 37–31 at the half.
“We just started so slow,” Post said. “And then it’s hard to push over.”
The Eagles continued to heat up as the second half progressed. Following Madsen’s electric finish and 3-pointer combo with about 12 minutes remaining, Post took matters into his own hands, hitting a shot from behind the arc that finally allowed BC to tie things up at 52 with 8:04 left to play.
“I think in the second half we found our shots and we got good looks,” Post said. “I think we lost the game on rebounds—the smaller things.”
The tie was short-lived, though. A Jamir Watkins jumper with 3:58 to go re-secured a five-point lead for the Seminoles.
But BC, led by Post, was not yet finished. Post dribbled the ball from the top of the key all the way to the basket and scored a layup with 2:37 left in the game. Two free throws from Zackery brought BC within a point, but FSU scored a layup on the other end to make it a three-point game once again with 1:24 remaining.
Madsen’s airball miss and the team’s sloppy final possession crushed the Eagles’ hopes at a win.
“It’s really hard,” Grant said. “It’s really disappointing.”
Despite the loss, Post tallied his 1,000th career point in the contest.
“He’s trying to lead,” Grant said. “He’s trying to grow this program to the best of his abilities, so I’m really happy for him that he got that thousand.”
