Jaeden Zackery scored a game-high 16 points and added four rebounds and an assist as Boston College clinched third in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam with a 59-48 win over Wyoming on Monday night in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
The Eagles (4-2) ripped off a 17-2 run over 7:50 in the second half to pull away. Devin McGlockton scored seven of his 12 points during that stretch.
Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points and CJ Penha Jr. pulled in six rebounds to help BC, which played without DeMarr Langford Jr. due to illness.
Ethan Anderson led Wyoming (3-3) with 11 points along with five rebounds and two assists. Star Hunter Maldonado did not return after suffering an apparent head injury with 8:50 left in the first half.
Neither team broke 40 percent shooting in the first half, but Wyoming especially struggled without Maldonado. The Cowboys were just 7 for 21 and committed eight of their 13 total turnovers in the opening period.
The Cowboys were scoreless until the 15:23 mark, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Xavier DuSell and Jeremiah Oden flipped the score at 10-9.
A 6-0 spurt put the Eagles ahead 15-10 at 6:19 as Zackery hit his first of three pairs of first-half free throws. After Zackery’s third trip to the line, Penha hit a triple and strung together five straight points to cap a 7-0 run.
At the 1:06 mark, Jake Kyman nailed Wyoming’s fifth and final 3-pointer of the frame, bringing the Cowboys within 26-21 at halftime.
The teams traded early runs in the second, starting with Wyoming feeding Anderson inside for three straight layups to take a 27-26 lead with 18:25 to go. T.J. Bickerstaff responded with six points during a run that was interrupted only by Anderson.
Zackery’s jumper extended BC’s edge to 34-29, but three different Cowboys scored during a 6-0 run that Hunter Thompson closed with a go-ahead pull-up.
From there, it was all BC. Mason Madsen hit free throws after a technical foul before baskets by McGlockton and Zackery highlighted an 8-0 run. McGlockton canned five straight on a triple and a tip-in basket to move the lead to double digits.
Foster and Oden led a late 9-2 stretch for Wyoming before Zackery finished at the line.
–Field Level Media