An already quiet Conte Forum got even quieter when Boston College men’s basketball gave up two 3-pointers to Stonehill and the Skyhawks went up 6–0 two minutes into the Sunday afternoon matchup.
Despite only giving up six points in the paint in the first half, the Eagles (7–4, 0–1 Atlantic Coast) went into halftime up just five points as Stonehill (6–6) managed to hang around due to its outside shooting.
The Skyhawks could only do that for so long, though, as BC started pulling away to begin the second half.
Despite leading by as many as 13 points, though, it was a two-point game with seven seconds left in the matchup thanks to defensive collapses from the Eagles. BC ultimately held on to hand the Skyhawks a 73–69 loss, breaking its three-game losing streak in the process.
“We just had to grind,” Chas Kelley III said. “It was a gritty win.”
Donald Hand Jr. sank the Eagles’ first bucket in both the first and second halves. His stepback midrange jumper 40 seconds into the second half kicked off a run for BC, allowing it to take an 11-point lead 1:32 in. Suddenly, it looked like a completely different game than it had going into halftime.
“You gotta beat them,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “They’re not gonna beat themselves.”
After Hand Jr. hit his shot, Chad Venning bodied his way into the paint and finished at the rim. Elijah Strong followed suit on the Eagles’ next trip down the court, making his way to the basket and fighting over a defender before kissing the ball off the glass to put BC up 41–30.
Things were far from over, though. The Eagles’ first-half demons came back to haunt them.
With just under four minutes left, the Eagles held a 63–52 lead—pretty comfortable, as long as nothing crazy happened. And nothing crazy happened.
But the Eagles reverted into their first-half form.
From the 6:11 mark to the 3:09 mark, the Eagles did not score. Stonehill went on a 7–2 run, cutting the deficit to four behind consecutive 3-point makes from Ethan Meuser, the second of which came on a busted Stonehill play and was contested by two BC defenders.
“We gotta close out with high hands especially,” Hand said. “Coach preaches that, and sometimes when we don’t do it, that’s when the team gets hot.”
It was Strong that broke BC’s scoring drought, then Hand that took it right at Stonehill. His layup attempt with 2:40 left was stopped short, but he picked up the foul and made two free throws to give the Eagles a 67–59 lead.
Their efforts on offense weren’t enough, though, because BC showed lapses in its defensive communication and switches. The Eagles gave up two more 3-pointers in 40 seconds—one each from Todd Brogna and Hermann Koffi to make it a 69–65 game.
“We got a group that’s trying to learn to hear and accept the voice of their teammate,” Grant said. “It’s a lot of new guys that haven’t been in these battles. Everything’s new for us.”
With 31 seconds remaining and BC with possession, Chas Stinson stole the ball clean out of Dion Brown’s hands. The Eagles had a foul to give, and Hand Jr. stopped the fast break with a foul.
“I thought we made some unforced turnovers down the stretch that we’ll learn from,” Grant said.
On the next play, Brogna flew into the paint for a reverse layup that made it a two-point game.
BC survived the scare, though, and was ultimately able to close out the game thanks to two free throws each from Strong and Hand.
“Take this win, celebrate it for about the rest of the day, and then just look into SMU tomorrow,” Kelley said, referring to the Eagles’ ACC home opener against Southern Methodist on Dec. 21.
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