The Top 5 Worst Boston College Sports Moments of 2014
By Joe Micik
2014 Top 5 Worst Boston College Sports Moments — #2
Boston College basketball loses to Georgia Tech; February 13
The number four worst moment was a game Olivier Hanlan helped Boston College lose, though that might be a slightly simplistic way of looking at it. In this one at Georgia Tech, head coach Steve Donahue unquestionably overcoached the Eagles into a brutal last-second loss.
Two bottom-feeding ACC teams battled it out in Georgia a day after weather forced the postponement of their scheduled game. It was actually quite entertaining, and the Eagles had ever chance of winning. The lead changed several times in the final minute, but it looked as though the Eagles would have the last laugh.
With 3.4 seconds to go, Olivier Hanlan made a jumper that gave Boston College a 71-70 lead. What would happen thereafter would be the final nail in Donahue’s coaching coffin.
The Eagles coach called a timeout. Brian Gregory and Georgia Tech had none. With 3.4 seconds left and playing on as normal, Georgia Tech would have had to scramble up court for a last-second heave. Instead, Steve Donahue gifted Georgia Tech a chance to draw up a final play.
Gregory did not miss it. He got the ball into Marcus Georges-Hunt’s hands, and with 0.1 seconds remaining, he drilled what would be the game-winning three. For good measure, Lonnie Jackson fouled him on the shot, and Georgia Tech all but walked off on a four-point play.
In a season of horrifying losses, this was the worst of them all for Boston College men’s basketball. The Eagles held a five-point lead with two and a half minutes to go and had every chance to scratch out a victory. What actually happened is the Eagles put on a spectacular display of how to blow a game as thoroughly as possible inside of four seconds to play.
When you have a 71-70 lead with 3.4 seconds left and lose in regulation, 74-71, that’s pretty bad.