Wednesday, November 20
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
7 p.m.
Boston College
4-1
72
vs
68
Eastern Washington
2-2
1
2
F
Eastern Washington
31
37
68
Boston College
33
39
72
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Heath Paces Eagles Past Eastern Washington, 72-68
November 20, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Nik Popovic reaches the 1,000 point mark in his career in the victory
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Jay Heath scored 17 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds, leading Boston College to a 72-68 win over Eastern Washington in Gotham Classic play.
Nik Popovic posted his first double-double of the season - and 10th of his career - with 13 points and 12 boards as Boston College. The senior also became the 45th player in BC history to score 1,000 career points.
BC jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead less than four minutes in. Heath connected on two 3-pointers during the spurt to start the game. Boston College would lead 21-9 with 10:12 left in the first half, before EWU scored 10 unanswered to cut it to two - 21-19 - with 7:27 to go.
A transition 3 from Derryck Thornton pushed the BC lead back up to seven - 26-19 - but Eastern Washington kept chipping away. The visiting Eagles made seven 3-pointers in the first half, as BC held onto a 33-31 lead at the break.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the second half. Heath pushed BC back up seven - after another 3-pointer made it 41-34 early on. But a 12-4 EWU run gave the visitors their first lead of the game - a Jacob Davison 3-pointer making it 46-45 with 12:47 left in regulation.
BC led by five - 60-55 - with just over six minutes to play, but Eastern Washington scored seven straight to take a 62-60 lead with 3:44 to play. The two teams traded baskets for the next two minutes, with EWU taking its final lead of the night on a 3-pointer from Tyler Robertson, making it 65-64 with just under two minutes to go.
Heath would respond with a 3-ball of his own in front of the BC bench and the home Eagles would not trail the rest of the way.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Nik Popovic posted his first double-double of the season - and 10th of his career - with 13 points and 12 boards as Boston College. The senior also became the 45th player in BC history to score 1,000 career points.
BC jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead less than four minutes in. Heath connected on two 3-pointers during the spurt to start the game. Boston College would lead 21-9 with 10:12 left in the first half, before EWU scored 10 unanswered to cut it to two - 21-19 - with 7:27 to go.
A transition 3 from Derryck Thornton pushed the BC lead back up to seven - 26-19 - but Eastern Washington kept chipping away. The visiting Eagles made seven 3-pointers in the first half, as BC held onto a 33-31 lead at the break.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the second half. Heath pushed BC back up seven - after another 3-pointer made it 41-34 early on. But a 12-4 EWU run gave the visitors their first lead of the game - a Jacob Davison 3-pointer making it 46-45 with 12:47 left in regulation.
BC led by five - 60-55 - with just over six minutes to play, but Eastern Washington scored seven straight to take a 62-60 lead with 3:44 to play. The two teams traded baskets for the next two minutes, with EWU taking its final lead of the night on a 3-pointer from Tyler Robertson, making it 65-64 with just under two minutes to go.
Heath would respond with a 3-ball of his own in front of the BC bench and the home Eagles would not trail the rest of the way.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Jay Heath's shooting line on the night: 6-12 FG, 5-7 3FG. The last BC freshman to make five 3-pointers in a game: Ky Bowman (5) vs. Notre Dame on Feb. 14, 2017
- Heath added eight rebounds and three steals. The last BC freshman to grab eight boards and log three steals: Steffon Mitchell (12 reb., 3 stl.) vs. Virginia Tech on Jan. 31, 2018.
- Along with his 10th career double-double, Nik Popovic added four assists and a blocked shot.
- Jared Hamilton scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He logged three rebounds and four steals - including the game-sealing interception with less than six seconds remaining.
- Hamilton is 12-for-19 from the floor over his last three games, averaging 9.7 points per game over the span.
- Derryck Thornton added 14 points, five assists, and a steal.
- CJ Felder played 18 minutes and contributed nine points (4-6 FG) and five rebounds
- Boston College shot 23-for-57 on the night (40.4%) - including 7-of-19 from beyond the arc and 19-of-26 from the foul line.
- 11 - Boston College scored a season-low 11 points off turnovers.
- Jay Heath was BC's efficiency leader on the night, with a rating of 21. Nik Popovic posted an EFF rating of 18. Â
- Jared Hamilton and Steffon Mitchell (14) and CJ Felder (12) also reached double-digits.
- Efficiency rating is calculated using the following formula: (PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK - Missed Shots - TO)
- Boston College hosts DePaul on Saturday, Nov. 23. Tipoff is set for noon and the game can be seen live on ACC Network Extra. Bill Spaulding and Kerri Shields are on the call.
- The game can also be heard live on the Boston College Learfield IMG College Sports Network with Eric Gallanty and Danya Abrams.
Team Stats
EWU
BC
FG%
.377
.404
3FG%
.342
.368
FT%
.500
.731
RB
40
42
TO
15
14
STL
8
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballG
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