Last season, Boston College men’s basketball only won games by 20-plus points on two occasions. Under head coach Earl Grant, the Eagles have continuously struggled to put games away—especially this season.
“We’ve been up 16 with the opportunity to deliver a blow and get it to 20, and we just haven’t been able to do it,” Grant said. “We hadn’t executed or gotten the stops we needed.”
But BC (3–1) finally managed to pull away for good on Tuesday night in a mostly empty Conte Forum, as five different Eagles scored in double figures to help BC defeat Loyola Maryland (2–3) 82–61 after a slow first half.
Leading 38–31 at halftime, the Eagles outscored Loyola Mayland by 14 points in the second half behind Donald Hand Jr.’s 15 second-half points and three 3-pointers, never letting the Greyhounds get back within fighting distance.
“Typically, by our teams, it’s like a slow drip coffee,” Grant said. “You want to go fast and get to 20 points, but sometimes it just don’t get to that that fast. But if you keep chopping and keep playing and making good decisions and getting stops, eventually that lead can grow.”
Grant’s lineup experiments contributed to the slow first-half start. The fourth-year coach inserted 11 different players onto the court in the first half, giving sophomore Fred Payne five minutes, freshman Luka Toews nine minutes, and freshman Kany Tchanda three minutes. Payne was the only one to score, as he notched eight first-half points with two 3-pointers.
“I felt like I needed to reward Luka and Fred,” Grant said. “They just show up every day with a hard hat and their energy is so good, and they find a way to win in practice, and they make the other guys better.”
Grant also said he wanted to play as many players as possible due to the program’s upcoming Grand Cayman Islands multi-team event.
“We got three games coming up in three days, so we probably will need all the guys, all hands on deck,” Grant said. “As much as I wanted to win a game, I wanted to give guys a taste.”
Payne was the only one who took advantage, as Grant rewarded the guard by playing him six minutes in the second half while Toews, Tchanda, and Joshua Beadle received zero minutes in the second half.
Tuesday marked Payne’s eighth collegiate game, as the Grambling, La., native tore his ACL in BC’s fifth game last year. His career-high 10 points in 11 minutes was a long time coming, Grant said.
“It’s called the fruits of your labor,” Grant said. “I can tell he was chomping at the bit to get in the game. It just was a matter of time for Fred to get his opportunity.”
Hand, Chas Kelley III, and Payne’s shooting ability while manning the backcourt together helped open up center Chad Venning’s game in the paint, and vice versa. The 6-foot-9 Venning finished with a game-high 17 points, as he bullied the Greyhounds’ Milos Ilic in the post all night.
Venning’s dominance forced Loyola Maryland to crash down onto him, leaving the Eagles open for good 3-point looks. BC shot 52 percent from behind the arc on 11-of-21 shooting, with five different Eagles hitting at least one 3-pointer.
“When you have perimeter guys that can all shoot the three ball, it just opens it up for everybody,” Kelley, who finished with nine points and three 3-pointers, said.
Venning’s and-1 off a miss helped put BC ahead 62–50 with 9:38 left in the game, and Hand, who also grabbed 14 rebounds on the night, followed a minute later with a 3-pointer to extend the Eagles’ lead to 13—one they would not give up.
An open Kelley 3-pointer off a Venning screen at the 2:32 mark to give BC a 76–59 lead sealed the deal.
“I think this team should take 20-plus threes every night,” Grant said. “Clean threes, not hard ones. So I think tonight was a good step for us.”
