Boston College opened up the game on their heels, while Stonehill threw the first punch. Stonehill and Todd Brogna dominated much of the first half. The Eagles seemed to start the game flat with little energy, and Brogna took advantage. He scored 14 points on 5 of 8 from the field. Boston College didn’t have an answer for him. Venning and Strong both had lackluster halves with just 5 combined points, but Chas Kelley’s 10 points kept their offense afloat. The Eagles woke up on defense and did not allow a field goal in the last 5 minutes. This run by the Eagles gave them a 35 to 30 lead heading into the break.
Boston College opened the second half with much more energy and quickly grew the lead to 11. But, Stonehill did not go away. Brogna and the Skyhawks hung around for the entirety of the game. Every time the Eagles tried to open up the lead, the Skyhawks had an answer. The Skyhawks continued to hang around and even cut the lead to just 4 with under 4 minutes left, thanks to two huge 3’s from Ethan Mueser. The Eagles seemed to have pulled away when they grew the lead to 8, but the Skyhawks once again came back. Amir Nesbitt missed a contested layup with 40 seconds left, which would have cut the lead to 2. But, BC got the stop and simply needed to make their free throws. Instead, a Dion Brown turnover gave Stonehill life. Brogna took advantage of the turnover and converted on a layup to make it a 69 to 67 game with just 17 seconds remaining. Hand was sent to the line where he made both free throws, but Nesbitt scored a quick basket to cut the deficit back to 2. Elijah Strong then got sent to the line and iced the game, making both, and BC won 73 to 69.
Boston College survived, but not without once again showing some glaring weaknesses. Stonehill was missing their leading scorer, Josh Morgan, but they still almost beat Boston College in Chestnut Hill. Stonehill was a scrappy team, and Todd Brogna played a great game, scoring 25 points, but Boston College should never almost lose to Stonehill at home. The Eagles have had a problem closing out games throughout Earl Grant’s entire tenure. They allow teams with less talent to hang around, and then down the stretch they don’t take care of the basketball when the game can be closed out with some decent free throw shooting. Stonehill shot over 40% from the 3 point line, which is what kept them in the game. The Eagles outscored the Skyhawks in the paint 44 to 20. If Grant’s squad defended the 3 better, this game would have been much different.
A win is a win, but the Eagles’ don’t have a go-to scorer like they have in the past. Hand only took 5 shots tonight, and he is one of the best on the team at getting his himself open. They’re going to need one of their guards to step up and be able to create better shots for the offense, or there will be many more games like this one the rest of the way. Boston College will be back at Conte Forum on Saturday when they host SMU at 12 PM EST. Hopefully, the Eagles can earn their first conference win against the Mustangs.