Boston College-UMass-Lowell Final: Brown Powers Eagles to 70-47 Win

Boston College-UMass Lowell Final: Aaron Brown scored 22 points to lead Boston College to a 70-47 over the River Hawks in a Monday afternoon matinee.

The Eagles have gotten back on the winning track following their loss last weekend to USC, improving to 7-4 on the season. Boston College has won five of their last six, all games being at Conte Forum.

Boston College-UMass Lowell Final: Game Synopsis

Boston College exploded out of the gates early, going up 4-0 in a matter of moments and causing Lowell’s Pat Duquette to take a timeout. It only helped the Eagles, as they went ahead 15-2 within the first four minutes of the game.

With 6:22 gone by in the first half, Boston College led 19-4, with Aaron Brown already making his presence felt with seven points. Moments later, Will Magarity fouled Jahad Thomas, and a cold streak for BC began. Over about the next 12 minutes, UMass-Lowell went on an 18-5 run to narrow a 15-point Eagles lead to two.

Luckily for Boston College, UML missed their shot attempts to take the lead, and the Eagles were in the bonus late. They added to their lead from the free throw line and took a 29-22 advantage into the locker room.

The second half was much less volatile for the Eagles. Aaron Brown scored Boston College’s first eight points of the half within its first two and a half minutes, helping put BC back up double digits. UMass-Lowell never had another big run in them as Boston College pushed the lead to as many as 25, winning by 23.

Boston College-UMass Lowell Final: The Stats

Brown led all scorers with 22 points. Dennis Clifford made nine free throws en route to a 19-point performance. Olivier Hanlan had 10; Alex Dragicevich had six off the bench and Dimitri Batten scored eight. Patrick Heckmann had one point on a free throw, but led the team with six boards.

Boston College-UMass Lowell Final: Bottom Line

By no means was this an airtight effort by the Eagles, but they did what they had to do. Early on, it looked like the rout was on but then the Eagles began missing some easy layups. This was followed by some sloppy overall play and UMass-Lowell quickly closed the gap. Thanks mostly to Aaron Brown, BC was able to end the threat and steadily pull away.

Brown has been this team’s best player at this stage. He shot very well from the floor and had few miscues. This game ends up much closer if not for him, as the Eagles needed him to take over.

Olivier Hanlan may have had ten points, but they were quiet. He did not have a great game, in part because he missed quite a few shots that ordinarily he would make. Hanlan seemed to be a non-factor most of the game and Brown passed him by as the offensive leader. Going forward, Hanlan underperforming would be very bad news.

Boston College Eagles /

Boston College Eagles

Clifford was fine from the floor, though on one or two occasions, much shorter Lowell players went up and over his head to get rebounds. Boston College had a big size advantage on that team and that cannot happen.

As for other players, Batten was fine though less prominent than in some previous games. Eddie Odio played 19 minutes but had a rough game. Aside from one garbage time dunk he was more liability than asset. Heckmann was a non-factor, as was Will Magarity in the few minutes he played — the latter left both of his shots well short. Alex Dragicevich was okay in his 16 minutes.

Some guys need to step up based upon this effort, but coming into the game, one had to figure about a 20-point win over Lowell and that’s what happened. They took care of business and now on to an extremely difficult game.

Boston College-UMass Lowell Final: Next Up

Boston College will cross over into ACC play on Saturday, January 3 to face the #2 Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor.

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