We talking two ACC wins in a row?
Boston College picked up their second ACC win of the season Wednesday night, defeating the Pittsburgh Panthers 65 to 62.
It was clear from the start the Eagles wanted to build momentum following their 81-73 win versus Syracuse. Boden Kapke answered the call to that challenge, as he scored nine of the Eagles first 13 points of the game.
The Eagles defense stood strong in the first half by forcing turnovers and pressure on the three point line. Pittsburgh struggled to score consistently, allowing BC to build an eight-point lead with just under 10:00 to go in the first. Following a few timeouts and offensive adjustments, the Panthers went on an 8-1 run. BC responded with key defensive plays and led 28-22 at halftime.
It couldn’t have started any uglier for the Eagles in the second half as the Panthers scored seven straight unanswered points and took at 29-28 lead. It became a back and forth battle between both teams, with four separate lead changes in the first five and a half minutes of the second half. Pittsburgh pulled away with the lead after back to back made baskets from Brandin Cummings and Cameron Corhen. Pitt led 41-36 with 14:00 to go.
By this point it started to look awfully similar to the Louisville game with Pittsburgh looking in control. Following the run, Fred Payne connected on two 3 pointers and Kapke making his presence known inside. The Eagles would not back down every time it looked as though Pittsburgh was starting to pull away.
Neither team had a lead larger than four points in the last eight minutes of the game. The Eagles leaned on Payne offensively, where he flourished with his late minute shot making. Chase Forte stepped up defensively as well, but the story of the game is Kapke hitting a go ahead three pointer with 22 seconds to go in the game. Pittsburgh couldn’t respond — despite a bad pass from Forte with four seconds to go almost spelled disaster for BC, which gave the Panthers one last chance to tie the game. Luckily, the Panthers missed the tying three at the buzzer.
This marks the second ACC win for BC as they now are 2-4 in the conference, 9-10 overall. Kapke led the Eagles with his career night, scoring 19 points and grabbing 5 rebounds on 8-13 shooting. Payne scored 18 points and made three 3 pointers, and Donald Hand Jr scored 10 points and pulled in seven rebounds.
Up next, the Eagles travel to Notre Dame on Saturday, January 24. Tip off is at 6pm.
Category: General Sports
