Paradise Found As BC Rolls Past George Mason

ST. THOMAS, U.S.V.I. -- Earl Grant made one thing clear in his postgame remarks after the loss to Maine - the effort provided by Boston College in the first part of the first half sunk the Eagles' battleship in their duel against Maine. Instead of crushing his team, he instead offered a window into the team's overall battle to find cohesion amidst a rash of early season injuries. He knew the type of fortitude that existed in his locker room, and all they needed, he reasoned, was a little bit of continuity.

On Friday night in the Paradise Jam opener, the Eagles dominated George Mason with an eyebrow-raising performance, taking nearly a 30-point first half. Every scholarship player saw minutes and made contributions - both in the box score and in the intangibles column, and BC cruised to a 71-56 victory.

"The biggest message to the guys after Maine was how important it was to know that we've got enough in the locker room," Grant said. "We've been faced with a lot of disappointment with guys being out, and emotionally and mentally, some of the young guys might be affected by that, but we just talked about using what we have. It's not going to change anytime soon until we hear anything different, so we have to play Boston College basketball the way that we know in practice."

That meant displaying every staple of the basketball mentality installed by Grant over the last year-plus, which in turn dominated Mason after the Patriots scored the game's first point with a free throw. The Patriots were completely stifled by BC's overall approach and could do little to stop the Eagles from breaking away. Boston College blew the game wide open by continually attacking inside, tallying 32 first half points in the painted area. And as fouls against the Patriots mounted, the lead chugged its way to 20 as momentum shifted into a cycle of Eagle points and Patriot misses.

"We just wanted to play in the paint," Grant said. "We posted the ball a lot. Their big guy, Oduro - we knew he was very effective and very important, so we tried to post him some. We just emphasized driving the ball and playing off of two feet. If you could get to the rim, take it, and if not, kick it and let the next guy drive it. So we had a high level of focus on playing in the paint and not settling for early shots from the perimeter."

It completely worked, and the Eagles marched into the halftime locker room with a commanding 26-point lead. They shot 20-for-34 from the field while only attempting three 3-pointers, and the attack tipped the scales to force George Mason to shoot 3-for-11 from outside. The high percentage approach limited turnovers while maximizing rebound numbers, and the effectiveness forced the Patriots to take more chances, which led to eight first half turnovers and a 29 percent shooting percentage before the break.

"We wanted to slow their big man down," Makai Ashton-Langford said. "We knew how talented he was, and we tried to get him in early foul trouble to get him out of the game because we knew how dominant he could be down in the post. He's a great passer, too, and they have great shooters on that team, so it was hard to dig down without giving up those open threes. I feel like we did a really good job executing on what the coaches said."

The first half dominance made the second half almost arbitrary, but George Mason made things interesting after a 15-7 run and sliced the lead to under 20 before chipping it down to 14 points with under nine minutes remaining. That late half push was stamped out and punctuated by DeMarr Langford Jr.'s alley oop dunk to Devin McGlockton for the final points of a 15-point win.

"It's kind of difficult at times when a team hits threes," Ashton-Langford said. "It's like your mind starts flowing, and the game gets faster. But it's just about listening to the coaches and staying calm. We'd been in that position a bunch of times, and it's just about finishing the game off. We did a really good job down the stretch, staying poised and calm and patient and getting open shots, easy layups, or fouls at the rim."

Ashton-Langford led all scorers with 17 points, but the balanced offensive attack saw every Eagle that appeared in the game enter the scoring column. CJ Penha Jr. added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Devin McGlockton came off the bench to tally eight points, nine boards, and two blocked shots.

By beating George Mason, BC advanced to the semifinals of the Paradise Jam Tournament, taking on Tarleton State on Sunday at 8 p.m. The Texans, who are not eligible for the NCAA Tournament while they complete a four-year transition and reclassification to Division I, defeated Belmont, 89-81.

"We played everybody on Friday," Grant said, "so everybody was fresh and energetic. We didn't change anything, we just executed. We defended the gaps and who would have been ball screen coverages. When two guys were stopping the ball, three guys were in the paint making sure they couldn't get any layups. We didn't change anything schematically, the only thing we did was execute the scheme better, so it was good to see that growth from the guys in just three or four days."

BC and Tarleton State will tip-off at 8 p.m. on Sunday from the Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The game can be seen via ESPN's online streaming of ESPN3.

Paradise Found As BC Rolls Past George Mason

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Players Mentioned

Makai Ashton-Langford

DeMarr Langford Jr.

Devin McGlockton

CJ Penha Jr.