Friars stifle Eagles in OT
Roxbury’s Reeves homecoming king
As he sat to his left after last night’s game, A.J. Reeves flashed a grin as his coach, Ed Cooley, talked about how his star freshman doesn’t take enough quality shots.
It may have not been exactly how they drew it up, but on the night of his homecoming, he’ll certainly take it.
Reeves, a Roxbury native and alum of nearby Brimmer & May, returned home and put on a memorable performance in front of friends and family, scoring 17 of his 24 points in the second half — including a game-tying 3-pointer in the final moments of regulation that sent the game to overtime — to lift Providence to a thrilling 100-95 victory over Boston College at Conte Forum.
“It was amazing to come back to Boston,” Reeves said. “I had a lot of family and friends in the stands. My Brimmer & May community came out, so it was definitely something for the ages.”
In a back-and-forth game that featured 13 lead changes, BC (6-2) had a chance to win in regulation, but couldn’t close the door.
The Eagles led 87-84 after a pair of free throws from Jordan Chatman, and with 11.9 seconds to go they decided not to foul to prevent a tying shot. That’s when Reeves got some space deep at the top of the arc thanks to a screen from Nate Watson, received a pass from David Duke and canned the tying 3 with 2.6 seconds on the clock.
Ky Bowman’s prayer at the buzzer was off the mark, and Providence (7-2) pulled away at the end of the extra session.
“I’m taking full credit for that shot,” Cooley joked of Reeves’ game-tying 3. “I’m taking 100 percent credit for that shot. We designed it. I got out my Naismith book. ...
“He can really shoot the ball. He’s playing with a lot of confidence and he doesn’t take enough shots for me that are quality shots, not just any shot, the ones he had at Brimmer & May.”
Added Reeves: “Emotions were high throughout the whole game. They had their runs, we had our runs, but when it came down to the last shot, I just want to credit my teammates.”
BC coach Jim Christian said it was a “tough call” to not foul on that possession, but with 11.9 seconds left after Chatman’s free throws, he opted to play it out with a quicker, smaller lineup and try to force PC into a tough, contested shot.
“Those things are always hindsight, right?” Christian said. “If he misses it, it’s a great call. If he makes it, it’s a bad call, so have to live with either one.”
Chatman scored a gamehigh 28 points while Bowman and Wynston Tabbs each added 17. Steffon Mitchell had a terrific effort of 10 points, 11 boards and five steals for the Eagles, who were missing starting forward Nik Popovic, who suffered a concussion in practice on Sunday.
His absence was evident as the Friars controlled the paint, but BC hung tough. The Eagles, who got a nice spark off the bench from Chris Herren Jr. in the first half to pull in front, led by as many as seven in the second half. Alpha Diallo got things going again for PC with seven consecutive points to tie the game before Watson’s jumper with 15:06 remaining gave the Friars a 55-53 lead.
From there, it was back and forth until Tabbs and Chatman hit back-to-back treys to give BC a 67-63 lead, but the Friars stormed back again. Reeves scored eight straight points, including a triple that gave PC a 73-72 lead, before a thrilling final stretch of regulation that ended with his heroics.
“I thought guys gave great effort,” Christian said. “We played with great heart. We made big shots, they made big shots, they played really, really well. But there was a lot of teachable moments in this game that we have to get better at.”