Boston College Beats Harvard 64-57 in Overtime, Snaps Losing Streak
By Joe Micik
Boston College Beats Harvard: The game went to overtime despite several big Boston College leads, but the Eagles have finally righted the ship against the Harvard Crimson and ended the nightmare.
Boston College defeated the visiting Crimson, 64-57 in an overtime victory. The win snaps the Eagles’ three-game losing streak, and ends a six-game losing streak to Harvard dating back to January 2009. The Eagles improve to 8-7 on the season.
Notably, with their eighth win, Boston College tied its 2013-14 win total.
Boston College Beats Harvard: Game Synopsis
The first half of the contest was all Boston College. Following a 2-2 tie in the opening minute, the Eagles burst into a 9-0 run with threes by Olivier Hanlan, Aaron Brown, and Aaron Brown again. Harvard would not get the game within six points through halftime, falling behind by double digits for the most part (as many as 15).
Boston College looked like they were about to run Harvard out of the gym, but whereas the Eagles scored 23 points in the first 8:13 of the first half, they managed just seven in the last 11:47. In spite of BC going through another one of their patented scoring shortages, thanks in part to them unnecessarily settling for bad looks, they shot 48 percent from the floor through halftime, while Harvard managed just 25 percent.
Even though the Crimson missed many more shots, they still held the rebounding edge at halftime, and that was because of their eight offensive boards through the first 20.
Harvard opened the second half with some real intensity all over the court, but it was briefly halted when Kenyatta Smith had to be helped off the floor following a sprained knee. Though Harvard’s effort was there, Boston College took advantage of a few finishes at the basket to stretch the lead back out to double-digits.
That, however, would be short-lived. Boston College began turning the ball over at an alarming rate, letting Harvard get the game back into single digits and eventually taking a 2-point lead at one point. The Eagle meltdown was complete.
Boston College and Harvard would trade leads, and turnovers, in the final moments. Down two, Aaron Brown re-tied the game with just under 20 seconds to go. With Harvard holding for the last shot, they missed and fouled the Eagles, and overtime resulted.
Fortunately for BC, most of the overtime seemed to be tilted their way, and they were able to hold down a fragile lead until late, when the Eagles iced the game at the line and with a breakaway.
Boston College Beats Harvard: The Stats
The Eagles’ top scorer was Olivier Hanlan with 17, while Aaron Brown and Patrick Heckmann had 12 each. Dennis Clifford had 13 off the bench and earned a double-double thanks to his ten rebounds.
Wesley Saunders led Harvard with 15 points, while Corbin Miller scored 14. Steve Moundou-Missi led the Crimson with six rebounds.
Harvard shot just 32 percent from the field; Boston College shot 52 percent. The turnovers were ugly, with the Eagles committing 18 and Harvard 16. The Crimson grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to help them to a 39-35 advantage on the boards.
Boston College Beats Harvard: Opinionating
The good news is that Boston College beat Harvard. The bad news is that they did not look great doing it.
Boston College made so many careless mistakes in the second half and got so vastly outworked that, frankly, they are lucky to have not lost in regulation. Give them credit for coming back in overtime and holding the Crimson at bay.
Boston College Eagles
Patrick Heckmann redeemed himself with a big overtime three, moments after taking a 10-second call. He was far from the only Eagle who committed a bad turnover late.
Eagles fans are going to be pleased, if only sarcastically, that the team finally beat Harvard again. That’s a fine outcome, but this game again reminds us that Boston College basketball does nothing easy, and that they are going to have to scrap for everything they earn this season.
Boston College Beats Harvard: Next Up
Boston College will host #2 Virginia at Conte Forum on Saturday afternoon; it will be their second time in five games playing the nation’s second-ranked team.