Gritty not pretty has been Earl Grant's mantra for a while now.

This new version of his team lived up to that in the season opener at Conte Forum on Monday night.

BC got 22 points and 10 rebounds from Donald Hand Jr. along with 15 and five from Chad Venning and 11 points from Elijah Strong in a 69-60 win over The Citadel.

The Eagles shot 38.9% from the floor (21-54) and made five of 18 threes. BC had a nice 43-32 edge on the glass and also went 22-28 from the line.

"We had scrimmaged a couple times and been practicing battling, trying to find rhythm," head coach Earl Grant said postgame. "With so many new guys, we just kind of had some jitters trying to get to the game and play. We just needed to get to the game and play.

"Half of the team hadn't played in this building. So, really happy that we were able to win the game, get that under our belt...you take out the free throws (BC committed 21 fouls)...I thought we played a really good defensive game. We can build on that. We left some opportunities out there on offense. Gotta be a little more sound with our decision making, ball handling and just execution. But, that's what I kind of expected for a new group."

BC led 37-28 at the half. A Roger McFarlane layup and then jumper made it a 43-28 early in the 2nd half before both teams went ice cold for a few minutes. Eventually, the Eagles pushed it to 54-41 with 10 minutes to go on a couple of Hand Jr. free throws. Hand Jr. buried a three a minute later to give the Eagles a 57-45 lead.

A Venning jumper with 5:18 left put BC ahead 63-51. Hand Jr. hit four free throws in the final two minutes to help ice the first win for this new crop of Eagles.

"Coming out in the second half, I just stuck to the game plan and the ball found me," Hand Jr. said. "I hit some big shots, but everybody played a great game. It was a collective effort."

"It definitely felt great," added Venning. "We've been going neck-and-neck in practice. We've really been going after each other, so that chemistry is definitely there."