Eagles Weather The Storm, Top #25 Hurricanes By 2
By: Christopher Sundaram
Boston College (15-10, 5-7) pulled out a come from behind victory today against Miami (18-6, 7-5), 72-70. Lead by their backcourt duo of Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson, the Eagles had a solid offensive attack throughout.
The game began with the Hurricane offense, primarily DJ Vasiljevic, hitting a barrage of three-pointers. Boston College responded, however, and was able to take an early lead about eight minutes into the game. What was perhaps the best play of the first half came about ten minutes in. Ky Bowman caught a pass off of a Jordan Chatman steal and threw down a massive dunk to energize the crowd.
The Eagles and Hurricanes continued to exchange leads throughout the first half, with both offenses firing on all cylinders. At the half, the Hurricanes lead the Eagles 44-43, and the game could not have been much closer. Both teams had the exact same field goal percentage (57.1%), differed in rebounding totals by just one, and differed in the assist and turnover categories by just two. Bowman could not have had a much better first half. Through his stellar play, he was able to score 18 points on 6-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four assists. At the half, Jerome Robinson was the only other Eagle in double figures with 11 points on 4-6 shooting. For the Hurricanes, their two leaders in the first half were DJ Vasiljevic and Chris Hayes, who had 11 and 12 points respectively.
The star in the first few minutes of the second half was Steffon Mitchell. He gave the Eagles the early momentum with a beautiful and-one, and then followed that up with a powerful block a few moments later. Unfortunately, the story early on in the second half for the Eagles was turnovers. After only five turnovers in the first half, the Eagles lost the ball a total of seven times in about ten minutes of play. This helped Miami to gain a slim lead over the Eagles which they would not give up for a while.
The star of the second half was Jerome Robinson. He picked up where Ky Bowman left off in the first half, totaling 18 points on 6-9 shooting in the second half. He made his impact known on the defensive side of the ball as well. With about eight minutes left, he drew a big offensive foul which gave the Eagles momentum. The Hurricanes continued to maintain their three to five point lead until Robinson drew a second offensive foul with just under four minutes to play and the Hurricanes leading 70-64. This was a huge momentum shifter, and the Hurricanes were not able to shift it back.
The Eagles cut the lead to two points, and with just under two minutes left Conte Forum was rocking. After a pair of Jerome Robinson free throws, the game was tied at 70 with 1:30 left. After making a huge defensive stop and calling a timeout, the Eagles had the ball in their hands with 25 seconds left. After Robinson missed a three pointer, Ky Bowman muscled his way through multiple Hurricane defenders and crashed the glass. After picking off a pass from Anthony Lawrence II, Bowman went up for a shot and was fouled, sending him to the line with 2.9 seconds left. Bowman then made two clutch free throws to give the Eagles the lead and the win as Lonnie Walker IV’s half court shot fell short of the rim at the buzzer.
Despite the turnovers, the Eagles were able to pull out a victory against a ranked Miami team that had won three straight and five of its last six. Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson were far and away the leaders of the team, totaling 24 points and 29 points respectively. Bowman also added 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Although the Eagles were aided by Miami’s inability to score in the last five minutes of the game, they made plays when it counted. What resulted was the Eagles second home win against a ranked opponent this year.
Boston College will look to carry the momentum from this game into Tuesday’s game at Pitt (8-17, 0-12).