Colson and Notre Dame hold off Pitt
NEW YORK » Bonzie Colson arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament ready to play as much as Notre Dame needs him this week in Brooklyn. The broken left foot that cost him 15 games this season is no longer an issue.
The Fighting Irish needed Colson more than expected Tuesday against a Pittsburgh team that finished 0-19 against ACC opponents.
Colson scored 19 points in 33 minutes and Notre Dame held off Pitt 67-64 in its tournament opener.
“The foot is healed. It’s fine,” said Colson. “And today we knew it was going to be a grind. We knew it was going to come down to game situations, and we’ve been through a lot of those this year.”
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, who earned his 500th career victory, said there are no restrictions on Colson.
“No, he’s ready to roll,” Brey said. “Hey, I’m going to get my money’s worth out of his eligibility.”
The 10th-seeded Irish (1913) play seventh-seeded Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
Colson broke his foot in practice one game into the ACC season and the Irish went 6-9 without him. He returned last week to play the final two games of the regular season. Against Pitt, the preseason All-American looked OK in a game that was no thing of beauty for the Fighting Irish. Colson’s turnaround jumper was working early and he leaned into defenders for a
couple more buckets. He finished 5 for 14 from the field, grabbed six rebounds and looked stylish in his emerald green sneakers with shiny gold trim.
Notre Dame never could put Pitt away, shooting 4 for 24 from the field in the second half. Things got dicey in the final two minutes. BOSTON COLLEGE 87, GEORGIA TECH 77 » Ky Bowman had 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to lead Boston College (18-14) over Georgia Tech (13-19) in the opening game of the ACCTournament.
With the league holding its postseason showcase in Brooklyn for the second consecutive year, a sparse crowd was on hand to see the 12thseeded Eagles advance to play No. 5 seed North Carolina State on Wednesday.
Sophomore forward Nik Popovic scored a career-high 20 points and Jerome Robinson, runner-up for ACC player of the year, added 19 on 5-of-17 shooting for Boston College. SYRACUSE 73, WAKE FOREST 64 » Freshman forward Marek Dolezaj scored a career-high 20 points and Syracuse (20-12) won an ACC Tournament game for the first time, beating Wake Forest (11-20).
Tyus Battle had 18 points and Paschal Chukwu added 14 points and nine rebounds as all five starters scored in double figures for the 11thseeded Orange, hoping an impressive performance in Brooklyn will get them off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament. LIU BROOKLYN 71, WAGNER 61» Joel Hernandez had 32 points and seven rebounds, and LIU Brooklyn (18-16) shocked New York City rival Wagner (23-9) to win the Northeast Conference Tournament title and earn its first NCAA Tournament bid in five years.
Raiquan Clark had 20 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Blackbirds, who handed the topseeded Seahawks their first loss this season on their Staten Island campus. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 83, NORTHEASTERN 76 » Joe Chealey had 32 points and the College of Charleston (26-7) rallied from 17 points down in the second half to win the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship and earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 19 years with an overtime win against Northeastern (23-10). WRIGHT STATE 74, CLEVELAND STATE 57 » Grant Benzinger had 19 points and nine rebounds to help secondseeded Wright State (25-9) beat eighth-seeded Cleveland State (12-23) to win the Horizon League Tournament title and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.