Collins and the ‘Deacs Outlast Eagles 85-80
By Andrew Kelley
On a snowy night in Chestnut Hill, Bryant Crawford put the game on ice with two free throws late in the game to give the ‘Deacs an 85-80 road win over the Eagles. The Deacons improve to 13-9 (4-6), while the Eagles drop to 9-14 (2-8). BC did not get home from their Virginia Tech game until just after 2:00 Monday morning, so it was a quick turnaround.
Wake Forest led for the majority of the first half, but only had a three point lead heading into the break. BC came out in the second half hot, especially Jerome Robinson, who had his own mini 7-0 run to give the Eagles a lead early in the 2nd. However, in the end, Wake Forest big man John Collins was just too much size down low for the Eagles to handle. He finished with game-highs in both points (26) and rebounds (16). Nik Popovic and Mo Jeffers both fouled out late in the game, which proved troublesome when guarding Collins. Collins did not attempt a free throw in the first half, but after a brief talk with head coach Danny Manning at halftime, he shot 10 in the second half.
The Eagles were led in scoring by Jordan Chatman who continued his hot shooting stretch from the Virginia Tech game, finishing with 22 points on 6-10 shooting, including 4-6 from deep. Chatman earned the starting nod after his electric shooting performance against the Hokies. Ky Bowman and Robinson also had good games, finishing with 18 and 17, respectively.
Ultimately, it was not the Eagles lack of scoring that was to blame, it was their defense. Christian noted that 80 points at home should win his team games. He cited the performance of Wake players other than John Collins that the Eagles needed to do a better job on. Christian noted that Collins will always find a way to get his points and that the Eagles needed to do a better job on the other Wake players. Austin Arians was 4-7 from deep and finished with 14 points. Bryant Crawford finished with 15 points as well.
Despite some encouraging performances from the Eagles in ACC play, they now sit at 2-8 in the conference with a very challenging road ahead. Despite the youth in the lineup, Christian is not using that as an excuse, as he looks to prepare the Eagles to take on a very hot Louisville Cardinals team at home on Saturday.