Boston College
Virginia Tech
Men's Basketball Defeats Virginia Tech, 61-59
January 14, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2012
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Freshmen Dennis Clifford led all scorers with 15 points to lead Boston College to a 61-59 win against Virginia Tech on Saturday in front of 5,038 fans at Conte Forum.
Clifford went 5-for-11 from the floor and hit five of his six free throws. Junior Matt Humphrey scored 14 points and had eight rebounds. Freshman Ryan Anderson had 12 points and also had eight boards.
Boston College led for the first 12 minutes of the game but the advantage was never more than four points. Virginia Tech forced four ties before taking its first lead of the game, 16-15, at the 7:11 mark. The Hokies took their largest lead of the half, 25-20, when Cadarian Raines connected on a jumper. BC ended the half on a 9-2 in the last 1:44 to take a 29-27 lead into the locker room. Freshman Jordan Daniels scored the last five points, hitting a three and then connecting on a runner as time expired.
The BC lead reached six, 35-29, in the first four minutes of the second half after Humphrey laid in a bucket on the break. The Eagles' defense held Virginia Tech without a field for the first 8:03 of the half, but the Hokies hit nine free throws in that span to stay in the game. Raines ended the drought at 11:57 with a jumper in the paint to cut the BC lead to 42-38.
The Eagles steadily increased their advantage and took their largest lead to that point with 10:01 left, 48-40, after Humphrey hit two free throws. Anderson made it a 10-point game when he hit a pair of free throws with 7:32 on the clock.
Virginia Tech cut an 11-point deficit to five when Robert Brown sank consecutive 3-pointers with 2:18 to go, but both teams went cold from the field after that. Clifford made it a seven-point lead with a free throw with 16 seconds left before Jarell Eddie hit a three. Freshman Lonnie Jackson hit one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock, then Jarell hit another 3-pointer to make it 61-59 with 0.3 on the clock. BC inbounded the ball and time ran out.
Victor Davila led Virginia Tech (11-6, 0-3 ACC) with 14 points and Dorenzo Hudson had 13. Dorian Finney-Smith brought down eight rebounds.
The Eagles (7-10, 2-1) travel to Raleigh on Thursday to take on NC State at 8 p.m.
