CHESTNUT HILL - Leading by 14 points (57-43) with 12 minutes to go following a Roger McFarlane jumper on Wednesday night, it looked like BC was going to get a feel-good win over Holy War rival Notre Dame with a rare complete performance.

BC led 4-35 at the half and kept it rolling into the second.

Then, as they have so many times in 2025, the wheels came off.

The Eagles blew that lead, but still had a chance to win the game three different times at the end of regulation and then two five-minute overtimes.

Instead, two Chad Venning fade away jumpers at the end of regulation and the first OT, an ugly Dion Brown attempt at the end of the second OT and Notre Dame execution down the stretch led to a 97-94 loss.

With the chances of making the ACC tournament already on the thinest of ice, BC drops to 10-14 overall and a putrid 2-11 in the ACC. The Eagles are tied with NC State and Miami for last place, but have better overall records than both teams. The bottom three teams in the league miss the ACC tournament.

"You keep encouraging, you keep practicing, you keep showing up, because at the end of the day, you know, this is the season, right? And you gonna win some, you gonna lose some," Earl Grant said when asked how he keeps guys mentally focused and together with so much losing. "And you learn more when you lose than when you win."

Grant also once again touched on the fact that the ACC tournament is most likely out of reach with seven games remaining. Ever the optimist, he actually expressed confidence in the team's ability to compete if they happen to get to any postseason play in March.

""I mean, we're a dangerous team. I don't think a lot of teams want to play us, you know, and see us," he said. "Our goal is to try to continue to improve and have a chance to play in March and advance, which we typically do a really good job of getting better to advance, in March. So that's what we're going to continue to pursue.

"Having to have a whole lot of conversation about it, I'm sure that guys, you know are aware...but, at the end of the day, we can talk about it, we can harp about it, or we can just show up tomorrow and watch the film. Learn from it, get better."

Venning had 21 points and four blocks, but only one rebound before eventually fouling out after 43 minutes. McFarlane (15 points, 2 steals, 9 rebounds) and Donald Hand Jr. (17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) also played over 40 minutes. Brown (15 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds) and Joshua Beadle (4 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds) played 30-plus. Fred Payne chipped in 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 23 minutes, Elijah Strong had 5 points and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes.

The Eagles actually had a strong shooting night at 54% (36-67) from the field and 48% (10-21) from three. BC only shot 15 free throws (12-15) to Notre Dane's 29 (20-29) and got out-rebounded 40-34, including 16-6 on the offensive glass.

The Eagles are on the road against N.C. State on Saturday (2:00 tipoff) before facing Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech at home next Tuesday and Saturday.