Boston College Athletics
Men's Hoops Hosts Maine Thursday Night
December 10, 2014 | Men's Basketball
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EAGLES AND MAINE MEET IN CONTE
• Boston College will host Maine on Thursday night at 7 p.m. inside Conte Forum.
• The game will be televised on ESPN3 with Eric Frede and Malcolm Huckaby on the call.
• BC owns a 14-4 advantage in the all time series and has won 11 of the last 12 meetings. Maine won the last contest in 2010, 52-51.
• The Eagles have won the first two games of their six-game December homestand. They defeated Providence last Friday, 69-60.
• Maine has opened the season by losing seven of its first eight games.
• The Black Bears' lone win came against Wagner on December 2, an 82-81 overtime decision.
• Maine is 0-5 on the road.
PROVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior Olivier Hanlan led Boston College with game highs in points (24) and rebounds (8). He also had a team-best three steals. He was 8-for-12 from the floor.
• Hanlan's 24 points were a season high.
• Graduate student Aaron Brown recorded 16 points and seven rebounds.
• Graduate student Dimitri Batten chipped in with 11 points and six boards.
• Boston College scored seven unanswered points to take a 47-40 lead with 14:50 left in the game. The Eagles would hold on to the lead the rest of the way.
• Boston College controlled the glass, owning a 41-28 advantage in rebounds. The Eagles scored 12 second-chance points compared to PC's three.
• BC had five players with six or more rebounds.
THE LAST MEETING WITH MAINE
• Junior Joe Trapani scored 17 points to lead Boston College in a 52-51 loss to Maine on January 2, 2010 at Conte Forum.
• Boston College took a 50-42 lead on a Tyler Roche 3-pointer with 6:01 to play, but could muster only one free throw the rest of the way.
• Maine scored eight straight points to even the score with 1:46 remaining. After BC junior Josh Southern sank one free throw with 1:19 to play, Maine scored the game's final two points on two Sean McNally free throws with 1:10 to play.
• BC missed two field-goal attempts in the final minute.
• The Eagles scored 19 points on 24.1 percent shooting (7-for-29 FG) in the second half.
• The host Eagles led 19-13 nine minutes into the contest, before the Black Bears used a 12-0 run to gain its biggest lead of the day - 25-19 with 6:36 left in the half. BC answered with eight straight points to regain the lead and finished the half with a 32-29 advantage.
• Trapani hit consecutive 3-pointers at 17:49 and 17:03 of the second half to give BC a 41-33 lead. Maine trimmed the margin to two points at 41-39, before the Eagles extended its lead back to eight points on Roche's three-pointer.
ATHLETICS RECEIVES GIFT TO ENDOW HEAD BASKETBALL COACHING POSITION
• Boston College has received a gift from alumna and Boston College Trustee Karen Izzi Bristing, and her husband Steve Bristing, to endow its head men's basketball coaching position held by Jim Christian. The largest donation ever made to the men's basketball program, the gift honors Karen's parents Clement and Elizabeth Izzi. In particular, the Bristings say, it was Mr. Izzi's love and enjoyment of basketball that inspired them to make this commitment.
• "We are most grateful to the Bristings and Izzis for their devotion and commitment to Boston College and especially our men's basketball program," said Director of Athletics Brad Bates. "I believe that in the hands of a talented coach we can make transformational differences in the lives of young people and this gift will assist us in attracting and retaining top coaching talent long into the future."
• Karen Bristing, a 1984 graduate of Boston College who has served on the Board of Trustees since 2011, grew up in New Hampshire and graduated from Nashua High School. She is the owner of Equinox Equestrian Center in Sun Valley, California.
• "This gift recognizes several areas that are important to us personally and to Boston College," Bristing said. "The importance of a vibrant athletics program, my enjoyment of athletics as a student, the opportunity to honor my parents - especially my father who is an avid fan - and the chance to create a family legacy all played a role in our choosing to support a University we love."
• Karen and Steve reside in La Canada, California with their son, Matthew. Karen's son, Andrew, is a sophomore at Boston College.
• "We are overwhelmed with the support the Bristings and Izzis have shown to our basketball program," Coach Jim Christian said. "We are committed to building our basketball program into a consistent winner that makes our students, fans and alumni proud. This will require a commitment from many people, and we are certainly grateful for their generosity."
• "The Clement and Elizabeth Izzi Family Head Men's Basketball Coach" is the third head coaching endowment at Boston College, which has been a major priority for athletics during the Light the World campaign. Also, included among the funding priorities are endowments in support of key positions on BC's 31 varsity teams, fully and partially endowed athletics scholarships, and current-use funding through the Flynn Fund and facility enhancements.
• The gift also supports Boston College's Light the World Campaign, which has raised nearly $1.3 billion towards its $1.5 billion goal.
