Building Block BC Moment Squishes Orange

Earl Grant walked into the raucous Boston College locker room and placed his suit coat on a chair next to him. He reached into a pocket as his Eagles jumped and celebrated around the space in front of him and pulled out a simple piece of fruit. An orange, the kind that grows perfectly in the groves based throughout Florida or California. They aren't natural to New York and specifically don't grow in the central region of a state more widely recognized for empire apples and blueberries.

He looked at it and debated peeling it before he dropped it on the floor and smashed it with his shoe. With it went frustration - frustration at an old Big East rival that was 21-3 against the Eagles since they reunited in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014, frustration at the near-misses dotting the first four games of this year's conference schedule, frustration at the perceived lack of progress in a program that hadn't played cohesive minutes before an October exhibition against Connecticut. Frustration at the jokes, at the commentary, at the outside noise that everyone understands even as they ignore it.

The frustration evaporated, replaced by a celebration beginning for the first time in weeks. One step in the right direction - one tangible step through an 81-73 overtime win over Syracuse - delivered a confidence injection through the locker room situated away from Conte Forum's brightest lights.

"It feels good," said Grant. "The one thing about this league is that there's a fight on every corner, so there isn't one [game] where we can say that we can circle one as an easy win. You have to battle every night, and that's what we signed up for. So we're really happy to not only win, but to win playing BC basketball."

Donald Hand, Jr.'s last second three pointer flipped a script that left the Eagles in an interminably disadvantageous position as the final seconds ticked away. Two minutes earlier, a 7-0 Syracuse run broke a tie game open by wilting BC's offense, and Donnie Freeman's four consecutive points followed a three-point play by Nate Kingz. A third foul for Caleb Steger echoed the foul trouble storyline that previously sent hand to the bench for seven first half minutes, and three consecutive missed shots followed Chase Forte's pair of missed free throws, which themselves succeeded Steger's missed three-point attempt.

A furious 90-second rally ensured BC's presence across the final 60 seconds, but Boden Kapke's missed three-pointer left a sour taste ahead of Donnie Freeman's final one-and-one bonus attempt. Even the front end would have torpedoed BC with 18 seconds remaining, so his miss coupled with a previous front-end make by Fred Payne and an earlier Hand three-pointer with 1:48 remaining kept the Eagles within shouting distance for Payne's handoff to Hand with seven seconds on the clock.

Hand had received a pick from Jayden Hastings and found himself free after two Orange defenders hung closer to the free throw line. The defender on Payne went for the ball instead of defending the shot, and Hand elevated for an uncontested look as three road jerseys converged on the spot. His standard release produced a perfect arc, and the confused Orange defense argued over the missed assignment as the splashed basket tied the game at 64-64.

A pair of four-point overtime runs later, Conte Forum's surprise and shock turned into elation.

"It's the weirdest thing because we've been in a lot of games," Grant explained. "There's never been a lack of effort, and there's never been a lack of belief. We've competed all the way to the last four minutes, but in a lot of games like this, we get to four minutes with a two-possession game, and you have to find a way to win. Whoever makes the most plays and least mistakes is going to win, and I thought that we took care of the ball well. We executed a couple of simple plays that we were working on, and we were able to really deliver on offense."

"It felt amazing," said Payne after the win. "I'm not going to sit and lie to [everyone]. I feel amazing because we worked so hard for this. We've been losing [late and] in overtimes, over and over and over, and we finally got one. Now we just have to continue to capitalize on it and just get back in the gym."

Excitement aside, the fallout from Saturday's win wasn't totally understood until the sun rose on the ACC's Sunday morning situation. Syracuse's four-game winning streak shattered into a demoralizing loss capable of torpedoing its NCAA Tournament candidacy, and a road loss to BC left the Orange with a second loss to a third quadrant team after they previously dropped a one-point loss to Hofstra. Holding just one win against the top tier of college basketball therefore required them to avoid a loss to either Pittsburgh, Florida State or Boston College after their previous 10-point win over Georgia Tech.

BC, meanwhile, pulled itself into consideration for the ACC Tournament after previously losing its first four league games. Even with its warts and faults, the Eagles tied Notre Dame and Pittsburgh as the weekend ended, and the weekend is ending with them within shouting distance of Georgia Tech, Cal, Wake Forest and SMU. A Wednesday night home game against Pittsburgh and a Saturday night road trip to South Bend leaves a bit of midseason destiny within Grant's grasp, even as games against Virginia and Duke loom on the outer horizon.

"This is a place where resilient people come," said Grant. "We're humble people, tough people, people with character. They take care of each other, they're together and they're connected. I think the team on the court showed the fabric of DNA of what BC basketball really is. Now we just have to try to build on it and continue to get ready for the next battle that's coming."

BC's matchup against PIttsburgh on Wednesday tips off at 7 p.m. from Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Television coverage is slotted for ACC Network with radio coverage available on WEEI 850 AM.

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Chase Forte

Jayden Hastings

Boden Kapke

Fred Payne

Caleb Steger

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