The Boston College Eagles Men’s Basketball team dropped their fifth straight game on Wednesday, losing to the Stanford Cardinal 70 to 64. It puts the Eagles record at 9-15 so far.
BC entered this game following a 74-68 loss to Miami. While the NCAA tournament is well out of reach, wins at this point in the season are crucial for the team to regain a sense of confidence — especially because they now have a 2-9 record in the ACC.
Following a quick 6-3 lead by BC, Stanford’s offense took over in a matter
of minutes. Ebuka Okorie and Benny Gealer generated lots of scoring for the Cardinal and found success from long range jumpers. Stanford scored 12 unanswered points, and it was looking like an ugly game from the Eagles perspective. Defensively, the Cardinals forced seven turnovers in the first ten minutes of the game. An leg injury to Donald Hand Jr forced BC to change their offensive game plan around with Chase Forte and Caleb Steger coming in as reinforcements. They cut the lead to six, yet Stanford continued to slice right through the Eagles defense and took a commanding 32-18 lead. Following a timeout, BC found points in transition and momentum swung their way, largely from Forte, Fred Payne and Boden Kapke. They tightened up on D and made smart decisions, which helped them close the first half on a 14-2 run and tied the game at 34 apiece.
The second half began with BC continuing to push the ball down the floor and playing fast. Despite the troubles with halfcourt offense throughout the game, transition points came at ease. Luka Toews scored a pair of jumpers and Boston College took a 41-38 lead early in the second — his playmaking was looking flawless. Stanford called a timeout, and turned to Gealer and Okorie again to carry the load on offense. The Cardinal took a 49-43 lead, and BC went ice cold — they did not score for the next seven and a half minutes.
Stanford did not lose hold of the lead, despite the Eagles fighting hard and keeping the deficit between three to six points for the last five minutes of the game. The Cardinal would go on to win on the road as the clocks hit triple zero.
The Cardinal’s rookie Okorie led the team by scoring 22 points and 5 assists. Gealer scored 21 points and added six made 3 pointers. As a team, Stanford shot 46% from the floor and 33% from 3. For Boston College, it’s yet another close loss to a superior opponent in which they could have won. Kapke led the team in scoring with 15 points and added eight rebounds. Fred Payne scored 14, and Toews added 13 on 6-9 shooting. BC shot 46% from the floor.
Up next, The Eagles welcome in a California team that just lost in double OT to Syracuse — a team the Eagles won against. The tip off is at 12:00 pm on Saturday at the Conte Forum.
