Boston College Athletics
Boston College
St. Bonaventure
No. 15 Eagles Rally To Upend St. Bonaventure, 96-82
November 28, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Nov 28, 2001
By RON DePASQUALE
Associated Press Writer
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - With pesky St. Bonaventure still hanging on late in the game, Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney decided enough was enough.
Bell scored 30 points, including 22 in the second half, and Ryan Sidney added 21 to rally No. 15 Boston College back from an 18-point deficit to beat St. Bonaventure 96-82 Wednesday night.
With the lead changing hands repeatedly, Bell hit a 3-pointer with 5:27 remaining to break a 76-76 tie and start a 12-2 run. Sidney scored three quick baskets to make it 88-78, and Bell knew the comeback was clinched.
"We just underestimated them a little bit," Bell said. "They showed me everyone's going to bring their `A' game every time they step out onto the court, and I should have known that. I'm going to have to be ready from the beginning of the game."
Boston College coach Al Skinner said the Bonnies came out with more emotion and energy than the Eagles. BC started to gel and communicate in the second half.
"This is a very big win for us," Skinner said. "The second half was the first time that I thought guys were really playing together, talking to each other, recognizing, hoping. They didn't separate, they didn't point fingers."
The Bonnies jumped out to a 10-2 lead and scored 52 first-half points. Boston College (4-0) slowly chipped away and finally went ahead on Bell's 3-pointer with 12 minutes left.
"We're going to try our best not to be down like that again, that was tough," Bell said.
J.R. Bremer scored 25 points for the Bonnies (2-1), and Marques Green had a career-best 17.
St. Bonaventure shot 56.8 percent in the first half and made six 3-pointers to send the Eagles into the locker room down 52-40. The undersized Bonnies used a fast-break offense and tight backcourt defense to turn steals into quick baskets.
St. Bonaventure coach Jan van Breda Kolff said his team couldn't match BC's leadership and big-game experience in the second half.
"We really didn't respond," he said. "If things aren't going your way, you've got to get out of your slump somehow."
Kenny Walls and Uka Agbai added 13 points each for the Eagles. Patricio Prato scored 11 for the Bonnies, and Patrick Methot-Lottin came off the bench to add 10.
Green didn't feel it was a moral victory for his team.
"I think we relaxed," Green said of the second half. "They're a great team and they played like a great team's supposed to play."
Sidney nearly had a triple-double, finishing with eight assists and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Bell, who had knee surgery on Oct. 31, said he felt 90 percent recovered.
The Bonnies traveled 90 minutes from their home court in Olean, the notoriously hostile Riley Center, to play at the downtown HSBC Arena.
