BC Squanders Opportunity Against Syracuse

Too many times this season, BC has been in a game or leading a game until turnovers, poor shot selection and spotty defense allows another team to make a run and put things out of reach in seemingly the blink of an eye.

The Eagles were up by three against rival Syracuse with just over eight minutes left in front of a sold out crowd at Conte Forum and had all the momentum on its side, but watched as the Orange took control down the stretch and came away with a fairly stress-free 77-68 win, the program’s 10th straight over BC.

The Eagles shot 42% from the field (27-65) and jacked up 35 three pointers, only hitting 11 of them (31%). BC also only took four free throws (hitting three) compared to Syracuse knocking down 21 of 24 attempts. The marquee matchup was between big men and long time friends Jesse Edwards and Quinten Post and it was Edwards who won it, tallying 27 points and 7 boards to Post’s 18 points and 5 rebounds.

“I thought we took a few too many,” head coach Earl Grant said of the three point attempts. “You’ve got to probe it. You’ve got to be disciplined, you’ve got to be mature and we were for the most part of the game that’s why we went up. But, you’ve got to continue to do it…maybe, I blame myself a little bit. We had a rhythm and we had a little cluster subbing (in the final eight minutes) and when I look back on it and watch the film I’ll probably question whether I should have stayed with that group or not, but I thought those guys were fatigued. There’s a lot of things I’ll go evaluate. We needed to be a little bit better to win this game. Our crowd was unbelievable, so that was a positive, to see that crowd build the way it built. We’ll get back to the drawing board and see how we can get better."

With a sold out Conte Forum providing an electric college basketball atmosphere on “Karate Kid Night,” The Eagles found themselves in a tight 7-7 game in the first five minutes after a Prince Aligbe put-back. After a Syracuse three, Post quickly hit a layup and was fouled, giving BC a one-point lead with the free throw just after the first media time out.

BC went cold for about three minutes until a Mason Madsen three pointer cut it to 16-15 Orange as Syracuse didn’t really help their own cause during the dry spell. With under 10 minutes to go in the half, Cuse pushed it back to 20-17 before a Madsen jumper made it a one-point game again. All season long, consistent shooting nights have been hard to come by for the Eagles and it continued Saturday with a 2-12 start from beyond the arc and an 8-21 start overall from the field. Still, Syracuse led just 22-19 with 7:50 left in the first.

Jaeden Zackery (14 points) threw up a perfect alley-oop pass for Aligbe off a steal by Aligbe to make it 22-21 soon after another media timeout. Meanwhile, Post and Edwards battled down low throughout the opening 20 minutes, with Edwards grabbing 12 early points, helping to re-up the lead to 26-21. After a thunderous Aligbe block, Zackery hit a three with 4:50 to go, cutting the deficit to just two. Not long after, Aligbe continued his fantastic first half with another alley-oop from Zackery to tie things up at 26-26.

“I thought he was aggressive, we need him to be aggressive,” said Grant of the big man matchup. He made half of his shots…he had four assists and five rebounds. I thought he played a good game, he was aggressive. It’s a big game for them. They grew up together in Amsterdam. They’ve known each other since they were teenagers and they take that battle pretty personal. I thought QP played well and Jesse Edwards was unbelievable.”

Makai Ashton-Langford (11 points) gave BC a 29-27 lead with 2:20 to go on a deep three from the edge of the BC center court logo, but Joe Girard was fouled shooting a corner three and hit all three free throws. Syracuse made it 32-29 on a put-back rebound before a Post three ball tied it up again in the final 45 seconds. Cuse responded with a second-chance three in the last 15 seconds and carried the 35-32 lead into halftime.

Syracuse almost immediately pushed it to five at the start of the second half and after a Zackery bucket, a nice move and layup for Girard made it 39-34. Post answered with a wide open dunk and a Zackery three the next trip down tied the game again. Post hit a floater to make it a 7-0 run and put BC up 41-39 less than five minutes in. In a site that’s still been far too common for BC this season, the Orange quickly went on a 10-0 run and went up 49-41 in what felt like the blink of an eye.

Post ended the run with another three after a Grant timeout. After a Cuse bucket, Zackery completed an and-one. Chas Kelley’s deep three moments later made it a 53-50 game and a stop and an Ashton-Langford three quickly tied the ball game up again. An Aligbe layup made it a 55-55 game as the clock ticked under 10 minutes.

“I thought other guys really stepped up,” Grant said. “Chas Kelley gave us a great lift as a freshman point guard. We had to move Prince to the small forward, he had played power forward all year, so I think those guys are just trying to make the adjustment to the best of their abilities. I know you go to the chiropractor for those spinal adjustments, I feel like I’ve been going to a chiropractor, all year it’s been an adjustment.”

A steal and finish from Ashton-Langford with 8:24 left put BC up 59-56, but yet again, the Orange made a run - this time an 8-0 stretch - to take a 64-59 lead with five to play. The Eagles were able to stop the run, but Cuse continued to make shots on the other end while BC watched the turnovers start to pile up. An Edwards dunk with three minutes to go put BC in a 70-61 hole and made it a 14-2 run for the visitors over a 5:35 span. Zackery hit a three the next time down the floor to cut it to six with two left on the clock.

Two Post free throws with about 1:30 left made it 72-65, but Zackery fouled out and gave the Orange two more freebies seconds later. A steal and three by Madsen with 50 seconds left kept hope alive, but the Orange closed things out at the free throw line.

All season long, Grant has preached a long term view for his team. After a loss like this one and only so many games remaining on the schedule before the ACC tournament, BC will need to figure out how to play winning basketball with more consistency or the season could be over sooner than later.

“I’m not really worried about a bunch of wins, I’m worried about growth and progress,” Grant added. “Body language and competitive spirit and togetherness, camaraderie, I know what winning looks like, so I’m looking for that. As long as our guys are showing that, I’m going to be pleased, but we want growth and progress and prosperity. Every night in this league is a fight, so you’ve just got to go out and play to the best of your ability and play to your standards. Believe in each other and try to go compete at the highest level.”