B.C. 65 – Syracuse 60
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – At the end, as the Eagles drained the free throws that delivered Boston College’s biggest victory in four years, Jared Dudley waved his arms and yelled toward the crowd.
“We got it!” the Eagles sophomore shouted to the gold-shirted B.C. students, knowing seconds later they would join him on the Conte Forum court to celebrate last night’s 65-60 win over Syracuse. “Let me hear you.”
Eighty feet away, the Eagles’ Craig Smith stood in silence, staring into space, as though spending a Saturday night in the Boston College library rather than the loudest building in New England.
Meet the boys who have made the Eagles college basketball’s biggest surprise. Opposites in personalities, their both played better than anyone else in uniform last night as they put the Eagles in position to jump back into the Top 5 next week.
Smith, a junior, dominated the Orange in the low post, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Dudley scored 21, 16 coming in the second half, when sixth-ranked B.C. (22-1, 11-1 Big East) built an eight-point lead before holding off Syracuse late.
Smith and Dudley rank first and second on the team in scoring and rebounding, and both could finish the year on the Big East’s first team. But the flair with which each may
The more athletic Dudley matches every score with a scream. He leads his team out of the locker room before each tip-off and pops off postgame as the team’s juiciest quote.
Smith, at 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds, keeps to himself, a fist pump serving as an emotional outburst. His physical play helped the Eagles hold a 45-31 edge on the backboards and a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points.
The frontcourt fraternity got help last night, mainly from Jermaine Watson’s 11 points. The Eagles’ ball movement also beat Syracuse’s zone, as they recorded 19 assists on 22 field goals.
They also overcame adversity brought on by the officials as much as the ninth-ranked Orange (22-5, 9-4). Center Nate Doornekamp traded shoves with Hakim Warrick late in the first half, but only Doornekamp picked up a technical.
Then with 13:37 left, Louis Hinnant argued the call of his fourth foul. Referee Reggie Greenwood called a technical on the B.C. point guard, giving him a fifth foul and sending him to the bench for the rest of the game.
But Watson slid in to the lineup and ran the offense. And B.C. cracked down on defense, with Doornekamp holding Warrick to two points on three field goal attempts in the second half, and the guards holding Gerry McNamara to 5-for-17 shooting.
McNamara finished with 18 points, Josh Pace added 14 and Warrick had 12. But Syracuse, which never led in the final 19 minutes, couldn’t overcome Dudley, Smith and the Eagles, who now own a two-game lead over second-place Connecticut in the league standings.