Iron men too much for Wake

Eagles starters barely leave floor in key win

Wake Forest coach Danny Manning factored fatigue into his game plan against Boston College yesterday at Conte Forum.

The Eagles’ foursome of Ky Bowman, Jerome Robinson, Jordan Chatman and Steffon Mitchell instead made enough big plays during their extended stays on the floor to lead BC to a 77-71 victory over the Demon Deacons.

“Going into the ball game we knew they were going to play their starters heavy minutes and those guys played heavy minutes and they were very effective in those minutes,” said Manning.

“We thought we could wear them down but that was not the case this afternoon. You look at it on paper and for them to do what they are doing at the level they are doing it at is pretty impressive.”

Robinson, Chatman and Bowman are in the top 10 in the ACC in minutes played per game. Against Wake they combined for 118 minutes while Mitchell logged 36.

BC coach Jim Christian’s lack of depth at guard and inexperience in the front court has forced him the pile up the playing time on his starting five.

Robinson led BC with 25 points and five boards. Bowman had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Mitchell netted 17 points with five boards and four blocks. BC (11-5, 2-2) shot 37.3 percent from the floor with seven treys and sank 26 free throws, nine in the final 48 seconds.

“First of all they are mentally tough kids and you have to be mentally tough to play that many minutes,” said Christian. “We don’t really practice that long because we know what we are doing.

“These guys have all played and they know our system and know our scheme and it is just a matter of trying to stay fresh.”

Manning had to realign his rotation due to the loss of redshirt junior guard Keyshawn Woods, who suffered a knee injury in the Deacons’ victory over Syracuse on Jan. 3. Woods was averaging 14.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

“It was just the next man up,” said Manning.

Mitchell set the tone for BC in the first half and that effort carried over into the second. The freshman forward hit consecutive 15-foot jumpers to give BC a 44-41 lead with 16:48 to play.

BC went up 50-45 on backto-back acrobatic buckets by Robinson and Bowman. Robinson circled the key and banked in a one-handed runner and Bowman followed with a transition reverse dunk with 11:56 remaining.

BC took its first double-digit lead, 62-51, on two from the line by Robinson with 5:04 on the clock. Wake (8-7, 1-2) cut the lead to 63-56 when Bryant Crawford converted a three-point play with 2:24 to play.

Robinson appeared to put the game out of reach with a corner trey and two from the line with 1:10 remaining. But the Deacons drained four 3-point shots inside the final minute to keep the game in doubt until the final seconds.

BC faces North Carolina on the road Tuesday night.