Eagles Falter in 2nd half, Drop 10th straight to Irish

Eagles Falter in 2nd half, Drop 10th straight to Irish

By Ben Neuwirth 

It was a story the Conte Forum faithful know all too well. A promising start by Boston College (9-18, 2-12 ACC) and double digit halftime lead was slowly erased in the second frame as they lost 84-76 and wasted a mesmerizing performance by freshman Ky Bowman. Notre Dame (20-7, 9-5 ACC) came into the game ranked #20 in the USA Today Coaches poll and earned their 3rd straight conference win, while the Eagles have now lost their 10th straight.

Coach Jim Christian started Jordan Chapman and AJ Turner in the two forward spots, the same lineup as last game at Georgia Tech, and it seemed to pay dividends early. AJ Turner’s 3-pointer at the 14 minute mark put BC up 20-13 as the Irish defense was scrambling to close out on the Eagles shooting heavy lineups. Turner demonstrated again that he’s one of the best passers in the ACC, slinging 6 assists against only 1 turnover, while supporting players Mo Jeffers, Connor Tava, seeing much of his time at Center nowadays, and even freshman Mike Sagay chipped in.

BC’s stars, Bowman and his backcourt mate Jerome Robinson, dazzled in the first half, slicing to the hoop, lobbing fire from outside and locking down a potent Irish offense to only 39 points on 40% shooting. A deep Garland Owens three sent the game to the half with the home team up 10 and optimism was high in Chestnut Hill.

Alas the young Eagles showed the inconsistency that has plagued them all season and Notre Dame began slowly chipping into the lead and ultimately seized it on a Bonzie Colson slam. They would lead the remaining 12:43 as Colson bullied his way to 20 points on only 12 shots, and Matt Farrell, 19 points, and VJ Beachem, 4 three-pointers, helped spearhead the comeback. Star Steve Vasturia showed his value as a distributor, 7 assists, even as his shot wasn’t falling.

Head Coach Mike Brey made the adjustment to a 2-3 zone which completely befuddled the BC offense, which only scored 27 points in the second half. Bowman finished with 29 points and 9 rebounds and attempted to will them back late, bringing the ND lead down to 2 with just under a minute to play, but a VJ Beachem offensive rebound with 32 seconds left forced BC to play the foul game, sealing their fate.

Robinson couldn’t get his shot going, 3-13 from the field, but contributed 6 assists and 5 boards and showed toughness on the other end. He and Ky put everything they had into this game, just like they have all season, but when they both aren’t humming at 100% and the other role players don’t step up there just isn’t enough firepower to beat a ranked team, even at home.

Now that the losing streak has reached 10 games people are going to compare this team to last year’s. Resist the temptation. There’s real talent here. Jerome deserves 1st team All-ACC, Bowman is a lock for All-ACC Freshman team and might even make the 3rd team as well. AJ Turner and Jordan Chatman can play. Nik Popovic and Mike Sagay aren’t getting a ton of burn but they’re pieces for the future. There’s a skeleton of a good team here, but they need work. A lot of work.

The Boston College Eagles travel to Tallahassee to face the Florida St. Seminoles (21-5, 9-4 ACC) and top NBA prospect Jonathan Isaac on Monday, February 20th at 7.