Boston College Athletics
Eagles Try to Bounce Back In Consolations Of Rainbow Classic
December 21, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Dec 21, 2001
AP-- Boston College tries to rebound from its first loss of the season as it meets with Arkansas State in the consolation bracket of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.
The 10th-ranked Eagles (9-1) were surprised 73-67 by Miami of Ohio on Thursday. Troy Bell scored 29 points, but shot just 7-for-19 from the field for Boston College, which went 8-for-28 on 3-pointers.
"Sometimes it's a matter of putting the ball in the basket," Eagles coach Al Skinner said. "Tonight, we didn't do that. We usually have three guys in double figures, but tonight we had only two."
Bell has averaged 32.3 points his last four games, raising his average to 27.7. Kenny Walls hit four 3-pointers - giving him a team-high 27 for the season - and finished with 19 points.
Thursday's loss marked the third time in as many attempts the Eagles failed to reach the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic. They did recover to claim fifth place in both the 1964 and 1978.
Arkansas State (7-4) landed in the consolation bracket following an 80-68 loss to Georgia on Thursday. Seven-foot senior Jason Jennings had 22 points and tied a Rainbow Classic record with eight blocked shots for the Indians, who fell to 0-3 when held below 80 points this season.
Dickey Nutt's team made a strong charge in the second half, erasing most of a 15-point deficit to close within 70-66 with less than three minutes to play, but the Indians could draw no closer and were outscored 10-2 down the stretch.
Nick Rivers added 15 of his 17 points in the second half for Arkansas State.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the Holy Cross-Portland game for fifth place on Saturday. The losers of those two games will meet for seventh place.
