Monday, November 25
George Town, Grand Cayman Island
7:30 p.m.
Boston College
5-1,0-0ACC
76
vs
74
Missouri State
4-2,0-0MVC
1
2
OT 1
F
Missouri St.
26
38
10
74
Boston College
29
35
12
76
Photo by: Eddie Shabomardenly
Clutch Shooting Propels BC to Cayman Championship Game
November 25, 2024 | Men's Basketball
Elijah Strong's 3-pointer in overtime led Eagles to 76-74 overtime win over Missouri State
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman — Elijah Strong's 3-pointer with four seconds left pushed Boston College past Missouri State, 76-74, and into the championship game on Tuesday night.
The Eagles will take on Boise State for the Cayman Islands Classic tournament title on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Trailing by three points in regulation, a Donald Hand Jr. 3-pointer forced overtime. Â BC overcame a six-point deficit in the extra frame, led by eight points from Strong, including the gamewinner.
Hand and Fred Payne (career-high) led BC with 18 points apiece, while Strong added 13.
FIRST HALF
The Eagles will take on Boise State for the Cayman Islands Classic tournament title on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Trailing by three points in regulation, a Donald Hand Jr. 3-pointer forced overtime. Â BC overcame a six-point deficit in the extra frame, led by eight points from Strong, including the gamewinner.
Hand and Fred Payne (career-high) led BC with 18 points apiece, while Strong added 13.
FIRST HALF
- Missouri State made four of its first five shots and led 9-4 at the first media break
- A 5-2 push midway through the half, capped by a 3-pointer from Fred Payne gave BC its first lead since early on - at 16-15
- Over the final 15 minutes of the opening frame, the Eagles' defense held the Bears to only 6-of-22 shooting from the floor
- A low-scoring half, BC led 29-26 at the break
- Payne led the Eagles with eight points
- After a back and forth start to the second half, a 3-pointer from Hand gave BC its largest lead of the night - six points - at 39-33 with 15:49 to play
- BC extended Missouri State's scoreless run to nearly two and a half minutes, taking an 11-point lead - 48-37 - after a Jayden Hastings layup at the 11:41 mark
- A 7-0 Bears' run got them within four, but Hand stopped the bleeding with a pull-up jumper with 8:53 to play
- After a Payne layup made it 56-48 with 5:11 to play, MSU engineered a 7-0 run to cut it to one with 3:42 to go
- Thanks to a sizable second half advantage in free throw attempts, MSU took a two-point lead - 60-58 - with 1:39 left in regulation
- Payne drilled a 3-ball to put BC back up one - 61-60 with 1:12 left, but MSU regained the lead after two more trips to the charity stripe made it 64-61 with under 30 seconds left
- Hand connected from deep to tie the ballgame at 64-64 and after a defensive stop, the game headed to overtime
- MSU scored the first six points in the extra period, taking a 70-64 advantage with less than three minutes left
- An alley-oop from Chas Kelley to Jayden Hastings got the Eagles their first overtime points and after forcing a turnover, Elijah Strong drilled a 3-pointer to cut it to 70-69 with 1:44 remainingÂ
- Two more free throws for the Bears on their next time down the court pushed the lead back to three - 72-69 - but Strong scored another bucket to keep it a one-point game - 72-71 - with less than a minute on the clockÂ
- A strip steal by Hand - and subsequent foul in the attempt - put him on the line for two foul shots, pushing BC ahead by one 73-72
- Missouri State connected on another bucket in the painted area, leading 74-73 with 14 seconds to go
- But Strong did it again, knocking down his second trifecta in OT, giving BC its final margin of victory
- Fred Payne's 18 points marked a new career-high in scoring for the sophomore guard. He saw 29 minutes of action, knocking down 6-of-8 shots - including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc
- Donald Hand added 18 points and eight rebounds - his sixth game in as many tries with at least 12 points and six boards
- It marked BC's first overtime game of the season and the first win in OT since Dec. 21, 2022 when BC downed Virginia Tech, 70-65
- Chas Kelley III led BC with six assists, while Chad Venning logged four blocked shots on the night
- It was BC's first game with at least 10 blocks since Nov. 27, 2022 when the Eagles rejected 10 Rhode Island shots in a home win
- The Eagles are now 102-93 all-time in MTE play and will compete for the Cayman Islands Classic title on Tuesday night - the first MTE title game for BC since the 2018-19 season
Team Stats
MOST
BC
FG%
.414
.500
3FG%
.231
.556
FT%
.793
.556
RB
35
32
TO
12
14
STL
5
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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F/C
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