After a comeback win over Miami a few days ago to begin the New Year, Boston College men’s basketball lost its first game of 2025 against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a score of 85-64 on the road in McCamish Pavilion.
The Eagles offense was rolling in the early minutes and BC held an early 11-9 lead at the first TV timeout thanks to five points from Elijah Strong and four from Donald Hand. GT retook the lead on a three from Javian McCollum and an alley-oop from Naithan George to Ibrahim Souare. They continued to build on that lead and BC’s offense sputtered, allowing the Yellow Jackets to take a 21-17 lead halfway through the first half.
After McCollum became the first player in double digits, GT took their biggest lead of the game, 30-22 with 7:16 left. Barely a minute later, after both teams traded shots, the Yellow Jackets hit their fifth three of the game, which put them ahead 35-24. The Eagle offense struggled mightily to end the half, going over three minutes without scoring. But the Yellow Jackets did not have the same problem and held a commanding 44-31 lead at halftime.
GT shot a stellar 58.6% from the field and went 7-11 from beyond the arc in the first half, while BC had a 43.3% field goal percentage and went 3-7 from three. The Yellow Jackets had seven more rebounds, six more assists, one more block, and one less turnover than the Eagles, and felt completely in control for nearly the entire half. Elijah Strong led BC in scoring with nine points, but no one else had more than five.
Unfortunately, Boston College couldn’t capture comeback magic two games in a row. The first points of the second half came on a Joshua Beadle three, that put BC within 10 points. But GT immediately regained control with an alley-oop and-one and a transition dunk, to take a 49-34 lead. The Eagles started 3-10 on field goals in the second half, while GT continued to make more than 60% of their shots and had three players in double digits. After Tech’s Baye Ndongo made a free throw at the 12:56 mark, the Yellow Jackets took a 20-point lead, 61-41.
Unfortunately, the game didn’t get any prettier from there. BC left Atlanta with an ugly 85-64 loss, shooting 42.4% from the field and 33.3% from three. BC also turned the ball over 13 times and allowed 44 points in the paint. The Eagles shot poorly and were outplayed in every other aspect of an uninspiring game. They’ll be back in action next Saturday in a home matchup against Syracuse.