Despite a somewhat lopsided 77-56 loss to Villanova on Saturday evening that dropped the BC men’s basketball team one game below .500 (5-6), the game was about more than the result on the scoreboard.

BC was able to wear their version of red bandanna uniforms for Welles Crowther for the first time ever in the Never Forget Tribute Classic held in Newark, NJ. In remembrance of the 9/11 tragedy, BC was an obvious choice to take part in the weekend and fully embraced what it meant to throw the white jerseys with red trim on.

“It’s something we talk a lot about,” said junior Mason Madsen, who had 13 points, three rebounds and four assists in the loss. “This is my first year here and (the red bandanna tradition) is something I became aware of very quickly coming to BC and what it means to people, seeing people walking around campus with red bandannas. Obviously, it’s something really real that follows everybody, even if you didn’t personally know him.

“So, we’ve talked about it a couple times as a team this season and just what that means. Obviously, coming out here we just wanted to play hard and represent something that’s bigger than us. I think we tried to do that to the best of our ability. Obviously, we wish the game would have gone differently, but I think we can’t fault our effort.

”Head coach Earl Grant also spoke about what it meant for the program to be able to wear the special uniforms for the first time.

“It’s a big deal,” he said. “When (9/11) happened in 2001, I had just graduated college, so I remember the incident, I remember watching on TV. Now that I’m coaching at Boston College, at a place where someone had so much heroics as it pertains to Welles and what he did to sacrifice his life for so many people, I knew coming to New Jersey not too far away from where it took place was a big deal. Very privileged and very honored to have the opportunity to coach at a place like this and be able to have a game like this and honor someone who made such a huge sacrifice.”

The Eagles may have lost the game, but the team’s ability to represent Welles with their version of the special red bandanna jersey was important. It shows a continued commitment by the athletic department to do the right thing - at least when it comes to honoring Crowther - by allowing each program to have the ability to get in on this special tradition. In years to come, the basketball red bandanna games will only grow like the football one has and in time, results will come on the floor for the men and women with “For Welles” on their backs.