A strong second half carried Boston College to a 95-64 nonconference victory over visiting Holy Cross on Friday night.
The Eagles (7-3) led by two points at halftime but outscored the Crusaders 62-33 over the final 20 minutes. Boston College shot 23 of 36 (63.9 percent) from the field after halftime.
Boston College received a game-high 18 points from Jaeden Zackery, 17 from Mason Madsen, 13 from Donald Hand Jr. and 12 from both Quinten Post and Devin McGlockton. Post, who also had 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals, did all of his scoring in the second half. Madsen made 5 of 7 3-point attempts.
It was the fourth straight loss for Holy Cross, which was without point guard Bo Montgomery and forward Louth-M Coulibaly because of injuries.
Declan Ryan led the Crusaders (2-8) with 14 points. Ryan, one of five freshmen who scored for Holy Cross, totaled just 11 points in his first seven games this season. A.J. Wills was the only other Holy Cross player who finished in double figures (11 points).
Joe Octave, who entered the contest as Holy Cross’ leading scorer (15.9 points per game) and rebounder (6.4 per game), didn’t score a field goal until 8:13 remained in regulation. He wound up with four points, on 1-of-8 shooting, and four rebounds.
Holy Cross made it a 34-34 game on a Joe Nugent 3-pointer with 19:20 remaining, but Boston College answered with a 17-2 run and led by 15 following a Madsen 3-pointer with 15:42 to play.
Each team struggled from the field in the first half, which ended with Boston College leading 33-31. Holy Cross shot 9 of 24 (37.5 percent) in the half, and the Eagles were 12 of 38 (31.6 percent). Post, who entered the game averaging a team-high 20.0 points per game, was scoreless in 15 minutes of playing time during the half.
The Eagles led by as many as 11 points before the break, but Holy Cross got within 28-26 on a Ryan layup that capped a 9-0 run with 2:19 remaining in the half. The Crusaders scored 14 of the final 19 points before intermission.
–Field Level Media