Boston College 61, UNH 59 (OT): Eagles Come from Behind to Beat Wildcats

Wins for Boston College basketball are rarely pretty these days, but when they come, it is cause for great relief.

On Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum, the Eagles defeated the visiting New Hampshire Wildcats, 61-59 in overtime. The win gives Boston College back-to-back victories and raises their record to 5-5.

The Eagles were forced to come from behind in this contest, trailing 31-23 at the half and 47-34 with just under eleven minutes to go. Without having had the distinct pleasure of watching the contest, one would not need a brainwave scanner to know what BC fans were thinking at the time. Give Boston College credit for coming back from a 13-point deficit in the second half, regardless of the opponent (though others would likely argue that the deficit never should have been what it was).

Three-point shooting for Boston College was, in a word, horrific, but they came through when most needed. The Eagles made two of their last three shot attempts from long-distance (both in overtime), but they had to first go 0-for-19 to get there. Patrick Heckmann and Olivier Hanlan combined for the most three-point attempts, and went 1-for-12. The only other make came from Lonnie Jackson. Nevertheless, shooting slumps like that are concerning, because it is not the first time this group has had them and it probably won’t be the last. Granted, 2-for-22 is a rare sort of bad performance for most any team, but so far, they’re not exactly hitting their targets from long range (prior to the game, the Eagles shot under 33% in that category).

The good news is that the defense appeared to be better. New Hampshire only managed a 39% field goal percentage, which reportedly came from real defense, not merely the other team shooting poorly.

No matter what, you can’t blame Ryan Anderson. He was a large part of the reason for the victory, putting up 23 points and grabbing 19 boards in a game where few of his teammates made an impact in the box score.

Boston College is now 5-5, though admittedly not a great 5-5. The next game on December 22 against Providence could give us all a better read of where they stand.