For a moment, Steffon Mitchell let Conte Forum know whose house it was on Tuesday night.
The sophomore filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, five steals, and two blocks, the last of which appeared to seal Boston College's victory over Providence on Tuesday night. After the swat, Mitchell roared to the crowd, who watched eagerly as the ensuing pair of free throws put the Eagles up 87-84 with 11 seconds left.
Unfortunately for BC, A.J. Reeves was not going to let anyone spoil his homecoming to Chestnut Hill. The local recruit exploded for 24 points and four 3-pointers, highlighted by the clutch dagger that sent the Friars to overtime, where they ultimately prevailed, 100-95. The back-and-forth affair featured a whopping 13 lead changes.
The heartbreaking loss had its fair share of impressive performances. Jordan Chatman scored a game-high 28 points on just 12 field goal attempts. Ky Bowman dropped 17 points, though it took him 19 shots, and Wynston Tabbs finished with 17 points (and, oddly, a plus-minus of negative 19).
The Eagles missed Nik Popovic's presence in the first half. Each time they began chipping their way out of the deficit, one of their backup big men would get beat inside for an easy bucket. First, Jarius Hamilton failed to box out and conceded a putback dunk. After Bowman finished a pretty and-one high off the glass, Luka Kraljevic got bodied in the paint. But the Friars' cushion evaporated once Chris Herren Jr. started firing from long range.
With Celtics GM Danny Ainge sitting courtside, Herren exploded for three 3-pointers that fueled a 15-2 run that gave BC a 37-35 lead with a few minutes remaining in the half. Providence turned the ball over four times in under a four-minute stretch as the suddenly-hot Eagles carried a 43-39 advantage into the locker room.
Jordan Chatman kept that energy going in the second half, hitting a fade-jumper and a 3-pointer before drawing a foul from beyond the arc and sinking all three free throws. But with BC's zone defense still looking vulnerable, the Friars would not go away quietly. After a poor first-half shooting performance (0-for-8 from the field), Alpha Diallo scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the second half. PC regained the lead on a David Duke layup with 14 minutes to play, but Bowman responded with a nasty spin move and finger roll to even the score.
The lead continued to switch hands as Hamilton nailed a jumper, only to be negated by a pair of Diallo free throws on the other end. Later, Mitchell's free throw made it 72-70, but the Friars regained the lead thanks to a 3-pointer by Reeves.
Mitchell split free throws again, tying the game at 73-73, but a quick outlet pass from Bowman to Tabbs on the next possession set up Hamilton for a fastbreak dunk. With under four minutes to play, Tabbs again set up Hamilton, this time for an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Eagles up 80-76. In the absence of Popovic, Hamilton earned big-time minutes down the stretch and rewarded head coach Jim Christian for his faith in the freshman forward. The North Carolina recruit finished with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting to go along with six boards, fouling out with 48 seconds remaining.
With less than three minutes left, Reeves again gave PC a new breath of life. His 3-pointer trimmed the deficit back down to a single possession and forced BC to call a timeout.
Holding onto a 92-91 lead, the Friars caught a few officiating breaks in the final few minutes. Reeves drew a questionable foul shooting a 3-pointer over Bowman and Kraljevic got called for a foul during a rebounding scrum. With a minute to play in overtime, Mitchell responded by splitting free throws to cut the Eagles' deficit to 95-94, but the Friars were bailed out by a foul call on the ensuing possession. Those free throws were the difference in the overtime win over their former Big East rivals.
*story will be updated with quotes*
The sophomore filled the stat sheet with 10 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, five steals, and two blocks, the last of which appeared to seal Boston College's victory over Providence on Tuesday night. After the swat, Mitchell roared to the crowd, who watched eagerly as the ensuing pair of free throws put the Eagles up 87-84 with 11 seconds left.
Unfortunately for BC, A.J. Reeves was not going to let anyone spoil his homecoming to Chestnut Hill. The local recruit exploded for 24 points and four 3-pointers, highlighted by the clutch dagger that sent the Friars to overtime, where they ultimately prevailed, 100-95. The back-and-forth affair featured a whopping 13 lead changes.
The heartbreaking loss had its fair share of impressive performances. Jordan Chatman scored a game-high 28 points on just 12 field goal attempts. Ky Bowman dropped 17 points, though it took him 19 shots, and Wynston Tabbs finished with 17 points (and, oddly, a plus-minus of negative 19).
The Eagles missed Nik Popovic's presence in the first half. Each time they began chipping their way out of the deficit, one of their backup big men would get beat inside for an easy bucket. First, Jarius Hamilton failed to box out and conceded a putback dunk. After Bowman finished a pretty and-one high off the glass, Luka Kraljevic got bodied in the paint. But the Friars' cushion evaporated once Chris Herren Jr. started firing from long range.
With Celtics GM Danny Ainge sitting courtside, Herren exploded for three 3-pointers that fueled a 15-2 run that gave BC a 37-35 lead with a few minutes remaining in the half. Providence turned the ball over four times in under a four-minute stretch as the suddenly-hot Eagles carried a 43-39 advantage into the locker room.
Jordan Chatman kept that energy going in the second half, hitting a fade-jumper and a 3-pointer before drawing a foul from beyond the arc and sinking all three free throws. But with BC's zone defense still looking vulnerable, the Friars would not go away quietly. After a poor first-half shooting performance (0-for-8 from the field), Alpha Diallo scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the second half. PC regained the lead on a David Duke layup with 14 minutes to play, but Bowman responded with a nasty spin move and finger roll to even the score.
The lead continued to switch hands as Hamilton nailed a jumper, only to be negated by a pair of Diallo free throws on the other end. Later, Mitchell's free throw made it 72-70, but the Friars regained the lead thanks to a 3-pointer by Reeves.
Mitchell split free throws again, tying the game at 73-73, but a quick outlet pass from Bowman to Tabbs on the next possession set up Hamilton for a fastbreak dunk. With under four minutes to play, Tabbs again set up Hamilton, this time for an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Eagles up 80-76. In the absence of Popovic, Hamilton earned big-time minutes down the stretch and rewarded head coach Jim Christian for his faith in the freshman forward. The North Carolina recruit finished with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting to go along with six boards, fouling out with 48 seconds remaining.
With less than three minutes left, Reeves again gave PC a new breath of life. His 3-pointer trimmed the deficit back down to a single possession and forced BC to call a timeout.
Holding onto a 92-91 lead, the Friars caught a few officiating breaks in the final few minutes. Reeves drew a questionable foul shooting a 3-pointer over Bowman and Kraljevic got called for a foul during a rebounding scrum. With a minute to play in overtime, Mitchell responded by splitting free throws to cut the Eagles' deficit to 95-94, but the Friars were bailed out by a foul call on the ensuing possession. Those free throws were the difference in the overtime win over their former Big East rivals.
*story will be updated with quotes*
