Boston College men’s basketball took on the Virginia Commonwealth Rams on Friday night, losing in blowout fashion, 80-55, as part of the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy. VCU was the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10 and they showed why against BC.
The Eagles struggled on the offensive end to begin the game, settling for tough shots and turning the ball over a few times. After an early TV timeout, VCU went on a 7-0 run in about a minute, and Earl Grant called a timeout before it could get any worse. With just over 13 minutes left in the half, VCU led 13-6 and BC still didn’t have a rhythm on offense. The Eagles looked slow and aimless on both sides of the court, while the Rams looked quick and purposeful.
After going almost four minutes without scoring, Elijah Strong scored his first points of the game to make it 13-8. But VCU answered right back with a three from Jack Clark, a layup from Max Shulga, and a three from Joe Bamisile, giving the Rams a 21-8 lead with 9:46 left in the half. Roger McFarlane snapped a two-minute scoreless stretch for BC with a short jumper and a three-pointer, but BC trailed at the under-eight timeout, 21-13.
The teams traded misses for the next few minutes until Dion Brown scored his first points of the game and made the score 21-16. The Eagles held the Rams scoreless for over four minutes but couldn’t get anything done on offense during that time. Then, the Rams broke through with a 6-0 run to push their lead to 27-16 with about four minutes left in the half. After starting 0-4 shooting, Donald Hand, BC’s leading scorer in their season opener, finally got a layup to go with 3:36 left to go.
Boston College was unable to get into any sort of flow for the rest of the half and was trailing 33-20 at the break. The Eagles shot just 9-28 (32.1%) as a team and were out-rebounded 26 to 16 by the Rams. BC also had ten turnovers and just one assist in the first half. Roger McFarlane was the most productive BC player through the first 20 minutes, finishing with seven points and six boards. Dion Brown and Donald Hand were a combined 2-11 and Hand also had four turnovers. It was a sloppy half all around for Earl Grant’s squad. They weren’t just outplayed, they were out-hustled; the Eagles would have needed a big turnaround in the second half if they wanted to win.
VCU scored the first points of the second half and extended their lead to 17 points after a layup and two free throws. A basket by Dion Brown stemmed the tide for a moment, but VCU scored twice, making the score 42-22. With ten minutes remaining in the game, BC trailed 55-33 and still didn’t have a double-digit scorer. VCU didn’t let up as the game wore on and beat BC 80-55.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 29.3% as a team, were out-rebounded by five, committed five more turnovers than VCU, and only had four assists. Donald Hand led the team in scoring again, ending with 17 points and shooting 33% from the field. Roger McFarlane had a solid game, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Just two games into the season, it’s clear that BC still needs to find a way as a cohesive unit. The Eagles’ next game will come next Friday against the Temple Owls in Conte Forum at 7 PM EST.