BC to enter ACC tourney as 10 seed
Georgia Tech rained on Boston College’s Senior Day festivities with a 73-65 victory over the undermanned Eagles in the season finale at Conte Forum.
BC finished at 15-16 overall, 9-11 in conference play and will enter the upcoming ACC tournament as a No. 10 seed and will compete in a preliminary round game on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets finished 14-17 and 6-14.
BC squandered a chance to finish with 10 ACC wins for the first time since 2006-07 and collect four straight league wins since 2008-09. Graduate students Makai Ashton-Lanford and CJ Penha, and senior T.J Bickerstaff combined for 37 points and 13 rebounds in their final home game.
“It’s a new season as much as I would like to harp on the Georgia Tech game,” said second-year coach Earl Grant. “We will have to move on pretty quickly, the regular season is over and we can’t get that back.
“We are going to a tournament where there is going to be one winner and everybody is undefeated when you go into a tournament. We will just have to get ready for what is next and we are excited about it.”
Two things happened in the opening segment of the game and both were bad news for BC. The Yellow Jackets made three treys by three different shooters on their opening three trips up the floor to take a 9-0 lead.
The Eagles soon lost the biggest component of their inside presence when 7-foot senior center Quinten Post left the game with a right ankle injury at 17:18 and did not return.
BC was already down a starter with junior guard DeMarr Langford missing his second straight with an undisclosed illness. Post was averaging 16.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while Langford was good for 7.3 points and 2.7 boards.
“When he went down, especially with the impact he has had on the team and not just as a scorer and having a good feel for the game,” said Grant. “I think it impacted the guys but our guys did a great job in a very winnable game.”
BC’s defense went to work while the offense, led by Bickerstaff, cut into Tech’s lead. Forward Devin McGlockton gave the Eagles their first lead, 12-11, on a drive at 14:37. Tech countered with a 13-9 surge to take a 24-21 lead into the third media timeout.
BC cut the lead to 29-28 when guard Jaden Zackery (14 points) completed a 3-point play with 3:29 on the board. Tech closed with a 7-2 spurt to take a 36-30 lead at the break.
BC tied the game 40-40 when Bickerstaff converted a 3-point play with 15:43 remaining. The Eagles took their second lead of the match, 46-44, on a layup by freshman Prince Aligbe with 13:29 to play. Zackery drove the lane and made a free throw to give BC a 4944 lead at the second media timeout.
After falling behind by nine, Tech tied the game 55-55 on a corner trifecta by Lance Terry (17 points) at the third media timeout. The lead changed hands three times with Tech up 63-60 at the final media timeout. Tech got consecutive 3-point shots by Miles Kelly (21 points) and Kyle Sturdivant (14 points) that made it 69-63 with 50 seconds to play.