Unscheduled trouble for BC
Eagles barely slip by Yale in two overtimes
You couldn't blame Boston College fans for thinking the schedule-maker had made a small oversight as they watched their team struggle to preserve its undefeated record. The schedule said the Eagles were playing Yale, but for much of yesterday's game, they made the Yalies look like another team from the Nutmeg State -- the University of Connecticut -- that is notorious for giving BC a hard time.
That's why the Conte Forum crowd -- generously estimated at 4,627 -- and BC's players and coaches all breathed a huge sigh of relief when the last-second prayer of Yale guard Edwin Draughan went unanswered and the Eagles walked off with their unblemished record (8-0) intact, prevailing, 82-80, in double overtime.
It was BC's second overtime win this season at home over an opponent it was expected to beat handily. BC edged Holy Cross, 63-60, in OT Dec. 9. That's a trend Eagles coach Al Skinner could do without.
"I'm not sure what it is, but it's clearly a flaw in this team," said Skinner. "We've demonstrated that when we come to play, we're a pretty good team. We spotted them [a lead] and then we played the last 20 minutes and a couple of more minutes in OT to get the victory. We can't consistently afford to do that. I'm hoping we can learn that without feeling bad about losing a game."
The Eagles, who held only one lead during regulation -- 17-15 at 10:59 of the first half -- rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to send the game to an extra session. Senior guard Jermaine Watson, who scored all but 2 of his 13 points after halftime, sank two free throws with 23 seconds left to tie the game at 62.
BC bruiser Craig Smith gave his team its first lead since midway through the first half on a hoop 1:24 into the first overtime and Steve Hailey's curling jumper gave BC a 69-64 advantage with 1:35 left in OT. But Yale, aided by a Watson offensive foul, tied the game at 69.
Guard Louis Hinnant had a chance to end it for the Eagles, but he missed a driving layup just before time expired.
BC opened the second OT with a 9-2 run to take a 78-71 lead and made just enough free throws to hold on, earning its seventh straight overtime victory.
Yale jumped to an early lead and carried the play for the entire first half, outhustling, outrebounding, outshooting, and generally outplaying a BC squad that looked like it had joined its classmates on winter break. The Eagles shot just 33 percent in the first half and were outrebounded, 25-17. The epitome of the half was a fifth-chance putback by Yale's Dominick Martin, who tortured BC inside with 22 points and 14 rebounds, that erased the Eagles' only regulation lead. The Bulldogs opened their biggest lead of the game, 37-27, when Casey Hughes hit a hanging jumper just before the half.
"It was difficult because they got in their rhythm," said Watson. "They were knocking down shots and they were all over the backboards and we weren't playing at the level we needed to. They came out and did what they wanted to do and we didn't until very late."
BC came out firing in the second half, hitting 11 of its first 12 shots. Smith, who scored 21 of his game-high 29 points after the intermission, led the charge, scoring 16 of the Eagles' first 22 points as BC pounded the ball to him inside. Smith's baseline jumper at the 11:31 mark trimmed Yale's lead to 48-47.
BC cut the Bulldogs' advantage to single digits four more times before Watson finally tied the game.
Smith said he was determined to make his presence felt and avoid an ugly upset. "Sometimes you just have to take over," he said. "If not, I'm letting my team down."
Yale had a chance to win in regulation as forward Sam Kaplan slipped open underneath on an inbounds pass with 2.4 seconds left, but Smith and Watson sandwiched the ball, preventing a shot.
"We couldn't get a much better shot than that," said Yale coach James Jones, who was disappointed his team didn't get the foul call on the final play of regulation. "I thought there was some contact."
But the Eagles know they never should have been a whistle away from a major upset against a team on their schedule for the first time since 1977 and that they hadn't lost to since 1961.
"Our mental approach needs to improve," said Skinner. "It's clearly something that is my responsibility -- to get them better prepared to start the game. Of late, we've been far too relaxed. Taking nothing away from Yale, but if we come out and play as hard as we did in OT and the last eight minutes of that ballgame, I don't think it goes into double OT.
"We can't just turn it on when we want to. I don't think we're that talented." . . .
Freshman forward Sean Williams was suspended for the game after violating team rules. Williams previously sat out a game against Long Island for an unspecified rules violation. 