March 9, 2013
Box Score | Coach Gregory post-game interview
BOSTON (AP) — Joe Rahon scored 15 points, including five straight down the stretch, Olivier Hanlan added 14 and Boston College used a late 12-0 run to erase a double-digit deficit and close its regular season with a 74-72 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Ryan Anderson had 13 points and Eddie Odio netted 11 for the Eagles (15-16, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference), who finished the season with three straight wins. The teams are likely to meet again in the opening round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday.
Marcus Georges-Hunt scored 16 points and Chris Bolden had 12 for the Yellow Jackets (16-14, 6-12), who were coming off their biggest win of the season on Wednesday, a 71-69 victory over No. 6 Miami that wasn’t sealed until a last-second tip-in by Georges-Hunt.
Boston College trailed by as many as 10 in the second half before orchestrating a comeback on Senior Day.
After twice creeping within three points with four minutes to play, the Eagles tied the game with 2:30 remaining when Rahon converted a three-point play. The freshman added another driving layup with 1:13 left that staked Boston College to a 66-64 lead, its first since midway through the first half.
Hanlan then converted on a fast-break layup after a blocked shot by Odio and later added another basket to put the Eagles in front 71-64 with 25 seconds left.
A quick 3-pointer by Georges-Hunt and a scooping lay-in from Pierre Jordan cut the deficit to three, and after Hanlan hit 1 of 2 from the free-throw line, Bolden drained a 3 from the corner to make it 73-72 with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Patrick Heckmann then sealed the game with a steal on the inbounds pass after also hitting 1 of 2 from the free-throw line.
Mfon Udofia netted six of his nine points to put the Yellow Jackets in front 44-38 with 17:44 to go and Georges-Hunt later scored four straight, including a deep jumper at the 14:21 mark, that handed them their biggest lead to that point, 52-42.
The Eagles whittled the deficit to four with 11 minutes left when Odio went on a personal 8-2 run, canning a 3-pointer from the left wing and later adding a baseline dunk to make it 54-50.
A pair of free throws by Anderson and a slicing layup from Hanlan knotted the game at 56-all with just under 7 minutes to play.
Just when it appeared the Yellow Jackets were about to put the game away, stretching the lead to six on a tip-in by Brandon Reed and a long jumper from Robert Carter Jr., the Eagles strung together a strong surge of their own to close their regular season in style.
The Eagles’ Andrew Van Nest scored seven of his nine points during a 17-7 run midway through the opening half that turned a six-point deficit into a four-point lead with 10:49 to go.
But Boston College turned the ball over on three of its final six possessions, the last miscue leading to a 3-pointer by Bolden that sent Georgia Tech into halftime with a 36-32 edge.
With Tech’s loss and Clemson’s loss to Miami, the Yellow Jackets received the 9th seed on next week’s 60th annual ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and will face Boston College again at 12 noon Thursday. The winner of that game will advance to play the regular-season champion Miami Hurricanes Friday at noon.
