Boston College men’s basketball looked to end a two-game losing streak with a win against Wake Forest on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Eagles were outplayed for most of the game and lost 72-66.
BC got off to a strong start, taking a 9-4 lead in the first few minutes, thanks to threes by Elijah Strong, Dion Brown, and Donald Hand. After Brown scored on a wide-open layup off an inbounds play, the Demon Deacons called a timeout with BC leading 13-5 and 16:20 left in the opening half.
Wake battled back to make it 15-12 with just over 13 minutes remaining, but neither team could find much consistency midway through the first half. After a hot start for BC, the Wake Forest defense tightened up and held them scoreless for multiple stretches of more than two minutes. Meanwhile, Wake went on a 12-2 run and took a 19-17 lead with less than ten minutes to go.
With seven minutes left in the half, BC tied the game at 23 apiece thanks to a three-pointer by Chad Venning, ending another scoreless stretch. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, but Wake managed to pull away just a bit during the last few minutes. BC’s offense struggled to find a rhythm for most of the half and the Eagles trailed 38-35 at halftime.
At the break, BC was shooting 40% from the field, compared to Wake’s 50%. The Eagles held a 17-14 edge in rebounds but also had three more turnovers, five less free throw attempts, and three less steals than the Demon Deacons. Elijah Strong led the Eagles in scoring at halftime with 13 points; no one else was in double figures.
Early in the second half, Donald Hand hit a three to give BC the lead back, although Wake retook the lead after scoring on its next two possessions. They extended their lead to 49-44 after a huge dunk and a three-pointer with 14:37 remaining. After Strong sat on the bench for a few minutes because of foul trouble, he hit a three after reentering the game, but BC still trailed 54-49 with 11 minutes to go.
Fred Payne cut the deficit to three with less than 10 minutes left and then tied it after being fouled on a three and making all three free throws. But the Eagles offense went quiet again, and the Demon Deacons took a six-point lead with seven minutes left in the game. With 4:08 on the clock, Dion Brown hit a huge three to put BC within two, 62-20.
The Eagles kept the score within two, but Wake made a short layup with under a minute to go that pushed their lead to four. After Strong made two free throws, BC forced a turnover and a foul on an inbounds pass, but Fred Payne missed the ensuing free throw. Unfortunately, that was BC’s best chance to tie the game and Wake Forest put the game away with free throws of their own.
The Eagles finished with a 36.8 field goal percentage and lost 14 turnovers. Elijah Strong ended as BC’s leading scorer with 18 points, while Donald Hand and Fred Payne had 13 and 12 respectively.
After this 72-66 loss, BC moves to 6-4 on the season and 0-1 in ACC play. The Eagles will return to the court next Sunday when they host Stonehill in Chestnut Hill.