Jan. 29, 2006
BOSTON (AP) – Craig Smith scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, adding 13 rebounds on Sunday as No. 20 Boston College beat Georgia Tech 66-64 – the Eagles’ fourth consecutive victory since opening their inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference season 0-3.
Smith, the conference’s co-player of the week, scored the first nine points in the second half for Boston College (16-4, 4-3 ACC) as it opened a 12-point lead with 13:57 to play. The Yellow Jackets (9-9, 2-5) scored the next 10 points, getting 3-pointers from D’Andre Bell and Lewis Clinch that made it 44-42.
Sean Marshall made two free throws, then Clinch hit another 3 to make it a one-point game.
But Theodis Tarver’s pass was knocked away, and Louis Hinnant found Smith at the other end for a dunk. Marshall stole an entry pass and found Tyrese Rice on the outlet; he passed it across the lane to Smith on the fast break for another dunk and a 50-45 lead with 8:36 left.
BC made 14 of 16 free throws down the stretch, including 6-for-6 by Smith.
Georgia Tech made a mini-run at the end when Clinch hit a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left to make it 64-61. But Rice hit two free throws, and Clinch’s 3-pointer at the buzzer didn’t matter.
Ra’Sean Dickey scored 18 points and Clinch finished with 16 for Georgia Tech, which lost its fifth in a row – its longest losing streak in three years. Zam Frederick, who hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to beat BC on Jan. 8 had just four points, and none until the final minute.
