Boston College came out of the gates tonight with some energy and played well from the jump. Earl Grant started the game with a plan to feed Chad Venning in the post, and they did exactly that throughout the majority of the first half. Venning finished the half with 10 points on 5 of 8 from the field. Fred Payne and Dion Brown both shot the ball well from the perimeter adding a couple 3s and 8 points each. Loyola, however, did not go quietly into the night. They had a much different strategy to start the game. Instead of pounding the ball inside, the Greyhounds took 18 shots from behind the 3 point line, making 5 of them. Those 18 3 pointers accounted for over half of their shot attempts. Despite the Greyhounds shooting the ball better than BC in the first half, the Eagles led by 7 at the break.
The Eagles played a really nice second half. In past games, the Citadel and Temple hung around and almost came back to beat Earl Grant’s squad, but, tonight, BC was able to extend their lead. They were able to do this by limiting Loyola to one shot, owning the boards, and shooting the 3 well. Boston College had 46 rebounds, 22 of them offensive, to Loyola’s 28, and finished the game shooting 52% from the 3 point line (11 of 21). Venning played well in the paint and was a man amongst boys scoring 17 points. Donald Hand has been great this year recording his second double-double on the short season with 15 points (all in the second half) and 14 rebounds. It was also awesome to see Fred Payne have a nice game. Payne finished with 10 points, which matches his career point total heading into tonight’s game. Tonight was a comfortable 82 -61 win for the Eagles.
Boston College played a very clean game tonight. They shot the 3 well, they rebounded the basketball really well, and they played good defense holding Loyola to under 42% from the field and 29% from beyond the arc. I wanted to give a shout out to Donald Hand. He has had a phenomenal start to the year with two double-doubles through the first 4 games. Hand has always been a good scorer, and has always looked to shoot, but this year, he’s doing a great job of letting the game come to him. That was apparent in the game tonight. Hand had 0 points in the first half and ended the game with 15. He’s really maturing as a player and as a scorer. He is also a tremendous rebounder for his height and will hopefully continue his performance on the glass as the season progresses.
Boston College heads down to the Cayman Islands this weekend and will take on Old Dominion on Sunday night at 7:30 EST. Let’s hope the Eagles can continue this momentum into the weekend.