In a great back-and-forth battle, the Boston College men’s basketball team pulled out an 86-80 win over the St. John’s Red Storm on NBC Brooklyn. Quentin Post had another impressive game, and although he only scored one point in the second half, he finished with 14 points, 11 boards and nine assists. Jayden Zachery was in foul trouble for about ten minutes in the second half but ran the offense well and also scored 14 points.
When Zachry came to the bench, Chas Kelly and Claudell Harris stepped up and helped put St. John’s away, finishing with 13 and 14 points, respectively. BC’s balanced attack proved to be the right formula against a pesky St. John’s team, and the Eagles should be proud of this win, which is certainly their best of a young season.
The Eagles, wearing red bandana uniforms, started the game shooting poorly from the field, as they did in their last game versus Holy Cross. With 15:54 left in the first half, they attempted eight shots and made three of them. St. John’s didn’t fare much better, but they also grabbed five offensive rebounds within the first few minutes to keep the game at 7-5.
Quinten Post and Jaeden Zackery picked up where they left off and scored 13 of BC’s first 17 points to start the game. Post dominated from inside and outside, making four of his first five field goals. Donald Hand also contributed early, scoring twice within the first eight minutes. After the second TV timeout, BC trailed 19-17 but looked very competitive. At that point in the game, the only stat separating the Eagles and Red Storm was rebounding, as St. John’s grabbed 14 boards to BC’s seven.
BC tied the game with ten minutes left on a great layup from Mason Madsen and then took the lead on a Claudell Harris jumper with 9:32 remaining. The Red Storm tied the game again on their next possession, but Madsen and Zachry knocked down layups to put the Eagles up by four and by a score of 10-2. After a triple by St. John’s, Devin McGlockton answered with a layup on a layup to send the game into a timeout with 6:48 remaining and BC up 27-24.
Post became BC’s first double-digit scorer with 5:18 left and BC leading 32-28. The Eagles’ defense continued to stymie St. John’s offense, forcing five turnovers with five minutes left in the first half. Chas gave Kelly their biggest lead of the game on a layup to make it 36-30 three minutes before halftime. The Red Storm made the game closer but going into halftime BC led narrowly 38-36.
BC seemed to play better as the first half progressed and shot nearly 53% from the field as a team. Post led all scorers with 13 points, while also grabbing four boards and providing three assists. Zachary and Hand each scored six points at the break, and Kelly had four points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Neither team shot well from beyond the arc, with BC leading by 1/6 and St. John’s by 1/9 at the break.
On the first possession of the second half, Prince Aigbe knocked down a layup attempt by Glenn Taylor and Columbia’s defense got off to a good start. Post also continued his impressive passing game with two assists to Jaeden Zackery to give BC a 42-38 lead with 17:35 left in the game. A minute later, Joel Soriano, St. John’s second-leading scorer, scored a dunk to tie the game at 42 apiece. After a missed corner kick from Post, Soriano made a jumper to give the Red Storm their first lead since midway through the first half.
After the timeout, St. John’s hit a quick 3-pointer, Jordan Dingle converted a one-and-one, and Soriano hit another dunk to extend St. John’s lead to 14-0 and extend its lead to 52-42. But the Eagles responded and took a 5-0 lead thanks to a pair of layups by Zachry and a free throw by Aliegbe. Then, after St. John’s was held up on defense again, Claudel Harris hit a deep 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two points with 13 minutes left.
Mason Madsen put the Eagles back in front 55-54 with about 11 minutes left after confidently nailing a triple, but the Red Storm scored on the next possession to take control of the game again. After an Alligby free throw, Post found Harris who hit another three in transition and put BC ahead 59-56. Ajebe then stole the ball from Brady Dunlap and dunked at the other end to give the Eagles a five-point lead with 10:04 remaining.
After a Red Storm timeout, St. John’s quickly took an 8-0 lead, and BC’s leading scorer in the game, Jayden Zachery, had to head to the bench with four fouls. The Eagles’ next two possessions ended in turnovers and the offense seemed out of sync without Zachry leading it. Joel Soriano continued his dominance over the Red Storm and scored two free throws to give his team a 66-61 lead with less than eight minutes remaining.
Chas Kelly put the Eagles on his back in the next few minutes, hitting four free throws and making a layup to give Columbia a two-point lead with six minutes left. Harris made a driving layup, leaned in after hitting the post, and Kelly hit a deep three to make it 76-70 with just 2:47 remaining. A three by Jordan Dingle put the Red Storm within five, but Donald Hand hit two shots from the charity stripe to push the lead to seven for the Eagles.
With 1:41 remaining in the game, and BC leading 80-75, Claudel Harris was fouled on a three-point shot and knocked down all three of his free throws and gave BC an eight-point lead, which seemed to put the nail in the net. Red Storm Coffin. The game ended 86-80, and BC improved to 8-3 on the year. They will return to action on December 21 when they face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Conti Forum.
The Boston College men’s basketball team put on an impressive performance as they secured an 86-80 victory in a thrilling back-and-forth game against St. John’s. The Eagles showed incredible determination and skill as they battled their way to the win, holding off a strong challenge from their opponents. With passionate plays and exceptional teamwork, Boston College demonstrated their prowess on the court, delivering an exciting and hard-fought victory for their fans.