Recap: Boston College Wins in Dramatic Fashion Over Florida State, 77-76

After blowing a late lead to UNC just last week, the Boston College men’s basketball team completely flipped the script in Conte Forum on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles crawled back from a double-digit deficit in the second half and stole a game away from Florida State in the final seconds thanks to some heroics by Chas Kelley with just seconds remaining.

This was shaping up to be another one of those games where BC didn’t completely fall apart, but their offense just couldn’t keep pace with their opponent. FSU took a lead early in the game and maintained it for almost the entire contest. The Seminoles’ Malique Ewin and Jamir Watkins were bullying the Eagles all afternoon, driving into the paint and drawing fouls. They weren’t playing super efficiently, but they were getting physical and received enough foul calls that BC could never really capitalize on any momentum. Donald Hand had an absolutely brilliant game, scoring 31 total points including shooting 6/11 from beyond the arc.

It was Hand’s late game heroics that narrowed FSU’s 14-point lead. After hitting a flurry of threes, Hand kept pushing the pace and got to the free throw line plenty himself, forcing the Seminoles into some tough situations. Alongside some tenacity from Fred Payne, the Eagles went punch-for-punch in the game’s final minutes despite FSU repeatedly getting to the free throw line again and again. So when Payne earned an And-1 in the game’s final minute, it set up BC with an unexpected chance to steal a game that they hadn’t led since early in the first half.

BC was trailing by 4 points with just under 15 seconds to play. Despite getting a shot blocked on the first attempt, Chad Venning was able to grab the ball out of the air and put up a shot that brought the Eagles within two points. Then Chas Kelley came up absolutely huge in the game’s final few seconds. FSU made a bad pass on the following inbound, which led to Chas Kelley steal and a deep three-point attempt that he miraculously hit with just 4 seconds remaining. Then FSU was able to push the ball all the way up the floor, but Kelley made a game-clinching play by knocking the ball away before the final lay-up could be attempted, resulting in a dramatic 77-76 Boston College win.

This is BC’s first ACC win in seven games. Next time out they’ll face off against #21 Louisville in Conte Forum on Wednesday.