Turning Point

Things certainly didn't look good when Wake Forest led 63-56 with less than two minutes left to play. Somehow though the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to end the game to pull off an improbable win.

The height of the excitement came with just over 30 seconds left in the game when Olivier Hanlan drove to the hoop and put up a bunny that got called as a goaltending on Wake, cutting Wake's lead to 1. On the ensuing inbounds, the Eagles played great full court defense, and Wake hadn't gotten the ball over half court in after 6 seconds. It looked like BC had a chance to pick up a 10 second call. The problem was that no time came off the clock, so the referees stopped play and made the Demon Deacons inbound the ball again. On the inbound, Wake was called for a 5 second call, giving BC the ball back.

Coach Donahue immediately called timeout, and drew up a play, which didn't seem to be working. Donahue called another timeout 9 seconds later and decided he wanted the ball in Joe Rahon's hands.

""We ran a play…I said if it doesn't work get the ball to Joe. Joe at this point---especially in this game---is strong with the ball, has an ability to get by, has a way of getting to the rim and I thought he did that," said Donahue.

Rahon drove to the hoop and was fouled, and promptly knocked down two free throws to give BC the lead with 7 seconds left. Rahon said that he was given confidence by his older teammate.

"We work on free throw shooting every day for a long time in practice. When I got up to the line Lonnie just came up to me and was like be confident we know you are going to make them," said Rahon.

Wake had a chance to win the game, but CJ Harris fell to the ground on his drive to the hoop and was called for a travel.

What Went Right

With 6:51 remaining, both teams were in the bonus, so it was going to come down to a free throw shooting contest in some respect. The Eagles went 6-for-6 down the stretch from the line, and an outstanding 18-for-21 in the game.

Another encouraging sign was that the Eagles prevailed despite getting only 12 points from Ryan Anderson and 9 points and 1 assist from Olivier Hanlan.

What Went Wrong

At times BC's defense was poor in this game, particularly in the first half. Wake shot 57% from the floor in the first half, and many of the shots were open threes, or easy buckets down low.

Decisive Matchup

BC didn't play great D most of the way, but it made stops when it counted. Over the last two minutes of action, the BC defense forced 2 turnovers and held Wake to 0-for-2 shooting. The Eagles would not have won this game if they were not perfect over the last two minutes on both ends of the floor.

Biggest Surprise

All year long the students try and trick opposing players by doing a "fake" countdown of how much time is left on the shot clock. When there are about 9 seconds left, the crowd will start chanting 5,4,3,2,1. For whatever reason, Codi Miller-McIntyre was tricked into taking a NBA three pointer with 5 on the shot clock, and 12:45 remaining in the game. In a game this tight, it was actually a factor on the end outcome.

Three Stars of the Game

1.Joe Rahon- Rahon had a nice performance scoring 12 points to go along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover. Most importantly, Rahon helped his team finally close out a game by scoring the game winning free throws with 7 seconds left.

2.Patrick Heckmann- on a night where Anderson and Hanlan weren't having their usual effect on the offense, Heckmann stepped up his game. The sophomore forward ended with 14 points and contributed on the defensive end too with 4 steals.

"We need Patrick to continue to play with confidence. I just felt like we were in a rut and not moving the ball as well as I'd like. I think you need another player like him to step up," said Donahue.

3.Olivier Hanlan- Really any player could've been put in this slot. Hanlan got a bump because he performed well late in the game.


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