Eagles Drop 7th Straight, Can’t Keep Up With ‘Noles

By Ben Neuwirth

In a game many expected to be a blowout, Boston College hung around and scared a good Florida State team, though ultimately came up short.

The Eagles pounced to a 2-0 lead on a Dennis Clifford jumper, and throughout the first half were neck and neck with the Seminoles, leading by 3 with 4:25 left in the 1st half.  

The ‘Noles pressed all night long, doubling teaming Eli Carter in the backcourt,. The Eagles were unable to take advantage with quick passes, often giving them 20 seconds or less to work with. Many of these shortened possessions led to long Eli jumpers, he shot 2-8 in the opening period, including 1-5 from beyond the arc.

However, Jerome Robinson, 15 points, had a hot shooting night and was able to penetrate at will. He carried the BC offense at times, though his highlight dunk with 3:15 left led to an early exit for the freshman as he seemed to injure his wrist on the hard fall.

Carter was able to rally in the 2nd half shooting 6-18 on the night for a team high 16 points along with 8 assists. His trey with 1:33 remaining brought a formerly 12 point lead down to 7. However Eli isos giveth and they taketh as his missed 3 at :40 sealed the Eagles’ fate.

Center Dennis Clifford underwhelmed with 8 points and only 4 rebounds, though he dealt with early foul trouble. No other player in the maroon and gold scored over 6.

“We have to have the three guys (Clifford, Carter, Robinson) play well all game to succeed” Coach Jim Christian said.

The Seminoles were led by Freshman phenom Malik Beasley, 22 points on 7-13 shooting, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes. Mayes despite a tough shooting night, dished out 9 assists leading to several impressive slams and Florida State showcased their breathtaking athleticism with 2 huge alley oops along with several other close calls.

The Eagles’ problem all season has been on the glass, where they are 25th worst in the country, and this game was no different. The Seminoles had a 12 board advantage at the half that grew to 18 by the end of the game, sucking energy away from the stout Eagles defense. As seems to be the usual this season, the damage wasn’t done by Florida State’s 7’3” behemoth Boris Bojanovsky, but 6’7” guard Dwayne Bacon. Hanging around the baseline, he snatched 14 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive end, leading both teams. In total, the Eagles let up 16 offensive boards, including a brutal sequence at the end of the first half in which they surrendered 4 in one possession.

The ‘Noles also held a huge advantage at the line shooting 25 free throws compared to 9 for the home team. BC failed to take advantage even when they made it to the line, leading Christian to lament, “That was a joke, we can’t go 2-9 from the line, especially at home”.

An overall good performance against Florida State, now 13-7 and 3-5 in the ACC, was overshadowed by the underlying lack of consistency and size that has plagued the Eagles all season long as they fall to 7-13 and 0-7 in the conference.

BC travels to Chapel Hill, N.C. to take on the second ranked Tar Heels next Saturday at 12.

Photography courtesy of ACC Digital Network