Boston College-Miami Final: Eagles Comeback Falls Short in 60-56 Loss
By Joe Micik
Boston College-Miami Final: Boston College closed a big second half deficit, but ultimately fell to Miami, 60-56 on Saturday afternoon.
The loss is Boston College’s third in a row, with the team dropping to 7-7 (0-3) on the season. Miami has now won nine games in a row in this series.
Boston College-Miami Final: Game Synopsis
The first half was ugly for the Eagles, as the team went down as many as thirteen points before fighting back to an eight-point deficit at the break. Boston College only broke the 20-point plateau in the closing seconds of the first, in large part because of their 33 percent field goal percentage.
Aside from Olivier Hanlan, who had 13 points in the opening half (5-for-10 FG), the rest of the Eagles were a combined 4-for-17, and at least a few of them were missed layups. That should negatively remind Eagles fans of the Pittsburgh game on Tuesday, in which BC missed no less than three layups that could have won the game.
In the second, the Eagles again found themselves behind by a wide margin, as many as 13 mid-way through the half, but this time, Boston College would be the team to benefit from a blown lead. With several players for the Eagles making big shots, including Dennis Clifford, Aaron Brown, and Eddie Odio, BC tied the game late in the half at 50-50.
Unlike in the game the Eagles played on Tuesday night at home, the trailing team did not complete the comeback in Coral Gables. Boston College missed some key free throws late from Olivier Hanlan and Dennis Clifford, while the Hurricanes iced the game at the line with 4.5 to go.
Boston College-Miami Final: The Stats
Hanlan led all Eagles with 19 points (7-for 18 FG), while Eddie Odio had his best game of the season with 13. Odio also corralled eight rebounds while Brown grabbed seven.
Miami’s Tonye Jekiri had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Angel Rodriguez led all Hurricanes with 17. Sheldon McClellan scored 11.
Boston College shot 41 percent from the floor, and Miami shot 45 percent. The Eagles made nine three pointers of the 21 they took (43 percent).
Boston College-Miami Final: Opinionating
There were stretches of this game where Boston College looked very, very bad. Give them some credit for closing the late gap, but as we have seen time and time again with this team, they cannot finish games. Sadly, that seems to be a theme with a few Boston College men’s sports this year.
Free throw shooting continues to be a problem for the Eagles; BC made just five of their ten, including several that could have changed the complexion of the final minutes. Miami still looks to be shaky, but they made the plays to win all game outside of one stretch and the Eagles did not.
Boston College Eagles
Also give some credit to Eddie Odio; we have been harsh on him most of the year to date, but in his final game back in his hometown, he did a nice job and was one of the shining stars on offense for the Eagles. If he flips a switch because of this game, then that’s a good thing.
Otherwise, a close loss is still a loss and Boston College is off to the races as far as that goes. If they do not win their next game, they may not get above .500 again this season.
Boston College-Miami Final: Next Up
Eagles men’s basketball comes back home on Wednesday night to face the Harvard Crimson.