Boston College
Providence
Men's Basketball Defeats Providence 82-77
November 28, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2009
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Sophomore Reggie Jackson tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds - both career highs - and junior Corey Raji totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Boston College to an 82-77 win over Providence before 10,782 fans in the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
Junior Joe Trapani finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, while classmate Josh Southern netted 11 points.
Southern scored the decisive points in the final minute of play. With the Eagles trailing 77-75, the junior center converted a three-point play - off a feed from Biko Paris - to give BC a one-point margin with 43 seconds left.
After the host Friars committed a turnover on the ensuing possession, Paris sank two free throws to give BC an 80-77 lead with 24 seconds to play.
Boston College, with one foul to give (having only five team fouls in the half), fouled the Friars with 13 seconds to play. PC took two timeouts to set up its attempt to even the score.
PC's Sharaud Curry's three-point attempt missed the mark. Trapani corralled the rebound and secured the victory by sinking two free throws in the final seconds.
BC led by as many as 18 points - 37-19 and 39-21 - in the first half, before the Friars closed the half with a 10-3 run to trim the difference to 42-31 at the break. Raji led BC with 14 first-half points. The Eagles shot 54.3 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Providence carried the momentum into the second half and narrowed the BC margin to five points - 56-51 - with 11:45 to play. BC answered with a 6-1 rally - capped by two Jackson free throws - to double its margin to 10 points (62-52) with 9:48 left on the game clock.
The home team, riding some hot hands from long range, then responded with a 21-10 run to gain its first lead since the game's opening minutes - 73-72 with 4:14 left.
A Trapani dunk (off an offensive rebound) put BC back on top with 3:55 to play. Providence answered with a Jamine Peterson lay-in with 2:54 left, before Jackson evened the score at 75-75 with one free throw with 1:58 left.
Bilal Dixon gave the home team its final lead with a lay-up, setting the stage for Southern's game-winning points.
Game Notes: BC shot 50.8 percent from the field, while PC shot 40.5 percent ... PC attempted nine more field goals than BC, but the Eagles sank three more field goals than the Friars ... PC shot 10-for-24 from three-point range, while BC was 0-for-10 from long range ... BC finished with a plus-10 rebounding margin ... BC had a 64-30 scoring advantage "in the paint" ... Paris led BC with eight assists, while Jackson was credited with seven assists. Each player committed two turnovers ... Jackson logged a game-high 37 minutes of action.
