Mason Madsen had the hot hand!
Before a nearly sold-out Conte Forum, Boston College men’s basketball earned its 15th win of the season. Although they got out to a fast start, the Eagles trailed for much of the second half before finally pulling away thanks to stellar shooting by Mason Madsen.
Madsen started the scoring with a three-pointer after recently being inserted into the starting lineup. He also assisted BC’s next shot, a three by Jaeden Zackery. With BC up by one a few minutes into the game, Quinten Post scored his first points of the contest on a dunk and followed that up with a three on BC’s next possession. The Eagles continued their fast start with another three by Madsen and a layup by Post to take a nine-point lead, 16-7, with 15:32 left in the first half.
BC’s defense frustrated the Hurricanes’ offense early in the game and scored five points off turnovers just seven minutes into the game. But BC’s offense went into a bit of a lull for a few minutes before Post hit his second three of the game to put the Eagles up 21-13.
But Miami proceeded to hit three shots in a row to cut their deficit to one point with just over 10 minutes left in the half. Both teams traded buckets on their next few possessions and, with 7:59 left, BC maintained a slim lead, 29-28. The ‘Canes tied the game with a free throw but the Eagles reclaimed it with a free throw of their own from Claudell Harris.
Miami made a jumper to take their first lead of the game, but Harris answered back with a three to put BC ahead, 33-31. With 5:19 left, Miami tied the game again, but Post made a free throw and Madsen hit his third three of the game to give the Eagles a 37-33 lead. But the back-and-forth battle continued, and Miami made two threes to go up 39-37 with 3:27 left.
Coming out of a media timeout, Harris hit two shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 39 points apiece. Miami’s best player, Norchad Omier, hit a jumper from the elbow to give his team the lead again. Both teams struggled to score as the first half wound to a close, but Post hit two free throws to tie the game at 41.
Before Post hit those free throws with 25 seconds left, BC hadn’t scored since the 3:07 mark, letting Miami control the game. BC got off to a blistering start but, as has been the case many times this season, a few scoring droughts let Miami right back into the game. Post led all scorers with 16 points at halftime, while also pulling down five boards. Mason Madsen was BC’s next leading scorer with nine, all of which came from three-pointers. The Eagles shot 43.3% from the field, compared to Miami’s 56%, but bested the Hurricanes in rebounds and points off turnovers.
During the intermission, BC legend John Austin had his jersey retired. He was the school’s first African American basketball player and the first BC basketball player to be named an All-American.
Both teams made a layup and a three on their first two possessions of the second half to keep the game tied. But BC took the lead at the 17:28 mark on a Zackery three that was assisted by Post. With the Eagles leading by one, Madsen hit a three and made another one on BC’s ensuing possession, giving him six in the game.
Thanks to Madsen’s hit hand, BC led the game 57-56 with 13:44 left in the game. The Hurricanes took the lead a few minutes later after two made free throws and then extended their lead to five points after two layups.
With BC down by four, both teams hit a jumper and a three as Miami held onto their four-point lead, 69-65, with 7:58 remaining. Mason Madsen brought the Eagles within one after making a layup, which also gave him 20 points in the game, a new career high.
BC pulled back within one point with 4:14 left in the game thanks to two Post free throws and a Zackery layup. Claudell Harris gave the Eagles the lead, 74-73, on a layup from under the basket and Madsen struck again, hitting his seventh three of the game to put the Eagles up by four with 2:05 left.
With just over one minute left to go, McGlockton was fouled trying to grab a rebound and made two free throws to give BC a 79-73 lead. But on Miami’s made a layup and converted the and-one to pull within three points.
Post got a layup to fall with 33 seconds left to give the Eagles an 81-76 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Boston College won by a final score of 85-77. This was a gritty win for the Eagles who trailed for much of the second half but showed how resilient they can be. Mason Madsen was the star of the game, going 7-12 from three-point range and finishing with 25 points and four rebounds. Quinten Post ended with 23 points and six boards, and Claudell Harris chipped in with 15 more points.
The Eagles improved to 15-10 on the season, with a 6-8 ACC record, and will travel to Tallahassee on Tuesday to face the 13-12 Florida State Seminoles.