Boston College’s Troy Bell, a two-time Big East Player of the Year, was already tossed aside by the NBA by 2006. He literally fought his way back, becoming an amateur boxer to stay in shape. He won two bouts easily as a light-heavyweight but basketball was always his Plan A. Today he’s starting for Italy’s Vanoli Cremona in the country’s top division and averaging 14 points a night.
BC’s Troy Bell Dabbles In Boxing, Now In Italy (Lost Letterman)
Hockey Sweeps UMass Out Of Hockey East Playoffs, Onto Semifinals
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 14, 2010 1:23 PM EDT
in Hockey
0 comments
The Eagles made quick work of UMass, winning 5-2 last night to advance to the Hockey East semifinals. BC completed the rare 5 game season sweep of the 7th seeded Minutemen. BC broke a 2-2 tie by scoring three unanswered goals in the third period. Assistant captain Matt Lombardi netted the game-winner just 2:11 into the third period.
Barry Almeida led the way for the Eagles, registering two goals and an assist. Carl Sneep, Paul Carey and Matt Lombardi added goals in the victory.
John Muse got the start in net, stopping 16 shots in the win. Muse improves to 13-8-2 on the year.
I'm not sure how I feel about York's decision to put Muse in net. I understand wanting to give Parker Milner the night off, but I thought that the benefits of playing Milner in back-to-back games would have outweighed giving him some well-earned rest. Milner hasn't played in back-to-back games all season. If York is going to go with Milner throughout the playoffs, this seemed like the last good opportunity to get him some experience in back-to-back games before the team is playing single elimination hockey in the Hockey East semifinals and the NCAAs.
Then again, we learned not to question York in March or April. In hindsight, York's decision to play for the tie last weekend in Durham doesn't seem so foolish now. Hopefully, it all works out and we get quality goaltending from both Milner and Muse.
York's squad will be making their 6th consecutive trip to the Hockey East semifinals at the Garden, and their 8th appearance in their last 10 seasons.
The good news is that BC gets a night off while the rest of Hockey East plays in decisive game threes tonight. Vermont evened their quarterfinal series with No. 1 seeded New Hampshire, winning 1-0. Sixth seeded Merrimack shocked BU in overtime, 3-2, pushing their series to game 3. Finally, Maine beat UMass Lowell 2-0 behind a shutout from backup goalie Dave Wilson.
Hockey East Semifinal Opponent TBD.
BC's semifinals opponent won't be decided until the results come in from the rest of the Hockey East quarterfinal game threes. The Eagles can play any one of four Hockey East teams in the semis - Vermont, Boston University, Maine or UMass Lowell.
Here are the scenarios and BC's possible opponents in the Hockey East semifinal:
| UNH vs. UVM | BU vs. MC | ME vs. UML | BC Opponent |
| #1 New Hampshire | #3 Boston University | #4 Maine | Boston University |
| #1 New Hampshire | #3 Boston University | #5 UMass Lowell | Boston University |
| #1 New Hampshire | #6 Merrimack | #4 Maine | Maine |
| #1 New Hampshire | #6 Merrimack | #5 UMass Lowell | UMass Lowell |
| #8 Vermont | #3 Boston University | #4 Maine | Vermont |
| #8 Vermont | #3 Boston University | #5 UMass Lowell | Vermont |
| #8 Vermont | #6 Merrimack | #4 Maine | Vermont |
| #8 Vermont | #6 Merrimack | #5 UMass Lowell | Vermont |
Ticket Punched.
The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers became the first team to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, defeating Niagara 3-2 in overtime. The Chargers went just 12-17-3 this season.
NCAA Tournament Field Update.
With UAH's surprising CHA Championship, the current NCAA Tournament field looks something like this:
1 seeds - Denver, Miami, Wisconsin, Boston College
2 seeds - North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Yale
3 seeds - Ferris State, Cornell, New Hampshire, Northern Michigan
4 seeds - Alaska, Vermont, RIT (projected Atlantic Hockey champ), Alabama-Huntsville (CHA champ)
If the 1 seeds hold serve, I see no reason why BC wouldn't be placed in either the Northeast (Worcester) or the East Regional (Albany) and get to play close to home. I still disagree with Vermont getting in as the third Hockey East team, especially since they entered the Hockey East tournament as the 8 seed. However, last night's win over UNH keeps them at #14 in the PWR rankings, which right now is the final at-large spot in the field (barring any other surprises in the other conference tournaments).
0 comments | 0 recs |
Hockey Wins Wild One Over UMass, NCAA Tournament Bubble Shrinks
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 13, 2010 9:58 AM EST
in Hockey
3 comments
Cam Atkinson wasted no time, scoring just 36 seconds into the game and finishing with a hat-trick at the No. 2 seeded Eagles won game 1 of their Hockey East quarterfinals series 6-5. The Eagles built up a 6-3 lead after two periods before UMass came roaring back to cut the lead to 1. The Minutemen scored twice in the third period's opening minute, but that would be all the scoring in this one as BC held on to take game 1.
BC continues to get outstanding play from their special teams unit. The Eagles went 3-for-4 on the man-advantage, including two of Atkinson's three goals and a goal from Joe Whitney. UMass finished the game 2-of-5 on the power play.
Atkinson finished the game with 4 points, while Joe Whitney added 3 helpers and younger brother Stephen Whitney registered a goal and an assist.
Parker Milner got the start in net, stopping 33 shots in the full 60 minutes to preserve the victory. Milner improves to 10-2-1. The Eagles were uncharacteristically outshot 38-32.
In other Hockey East action, top-seeded New Hampshire scored the game's final five goals to defeat Vermont 7-4. Boston University rallied past Merrimack 3-2, while Lowell got the victory over Maine 2-1.
Shrinking Bubble.
College Hockey America's Bemidji State - remember them? - were bounced from the CHA Tournament semifinals last night, losing to No. 4 seeded Niagara 5-4. The loss assures that in the league's last year of existence, the CHA will field two teams in the NCAA Tournament field of 16. BSU already has a at-large berth secured, so the winner of the CHA championship game between Niagara and Alabama-Huntsville will receive an auto-berth into the NCAAs. Niagara has a record of 12-19-4, while UAH has a record of 11-17-3.
That's bad news for the rest of college hockey's bubble teams. For Hockey East programs like UMass Lowell, Vermont, Massachusetts and Boston University, that's one less spot available in the field of 16. As it stands right now, Hockey East looks like they will only be sending two teams to the NCAAs - BC and New Hampshire - unless one of these teams can sneak in and capture the Hockey East tournament title. Lowell is in the best position to grab one of the final at-large spots in the tournament.
5 Overtime Hockey = Awesome.
Quinnipiac and Union College needed 5 overtimes and almost 6 hours to settle game one of their best-of-three ECAC Quarterfinals matchup. Quinnipiac won 3-2 on Greg Holt's goal at 10:22 of the fifth overtime. The game was the longest game in NCAA history. (What's up with longest game in NCAA history records falling in consecutive years? First BC-Texas in baseball and now Quinnipiac-Union in hockey.)
This really has no bearing on BC or the NCAA Tournament Field. It's just awesome.
Up Next.
The Eagles look to finish off the Minutemen tonight at Conte Forum, starting at 7 PM. With a win, BC advances to the next weekend's Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden.
3 comments | 0 recs |
Has Skinner Lost This Team? and the Big Finish
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 12, 2010 9:00 AM EST
in Big Finish
19 comments
Brian: Alright Jeff. We’ve had a day to think about and sift through the flaming wreckage that was BC’s 68-62 first round exit in the ACC Tournament. The Eagles defense gave up easy buckets all day and they left Sammy Zeglinski virtually unguarded. Zeglinski made the Eagles pay, connecting on 5 of 10 3-point attempts and finishing with 21 points. Joe Trapani (2 points) and Tyler Roche (2 points) had terrible shooting nights, going a combined 1-for-13 from the floor. Reggie Jackson seemed to press the action for much of the game, and killed a couple of BC possessions by deciding to shoot the ball early in the possession instead of setting up BC's Flex offense.
The only bright spot of the game was that Rakim Sanders returned to form, scoring a team-high 22 points in the loss.
The game will largely be remembered for Skinner’s decision to bench Trapani for the game’s final 13 minutes. Sure, he was having an awful game shooting from the floor, but the move seemed a little extreme, no? Do you agree with Skinner’s decision to bench Trapani for the rest of the game, give the Eagles were still within striking distance and needed 3-point shooters on the floor?
Jeff: No reason to play your guy who played more and scored more than anyone else all season only 22 minutes in what turned out to be the final game of the season for the Eagles. Trapani needed to be in for the Eagles all season so I don't know why today was any different even though he did get off to an incredibly rough start. Unfortunately the season ends with just another head-scratcher in a season that has been full of them.
Brian: Allow me to state the obvious for a second here. There will be no postseason for BC. For the second time in three seasons, the Eagles finish the year below .500. The Eagles haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game now in 3 full seasons.
The Eagles return all five starters and only lose Tyler Roche. Any reason to think next year won’t be more of the same? More importantly, is it time for the school to part ways with Skinner?
Jeff: It is not time at all to part ways with Al Skinner. The program has gone into a rough patch since losing Jared Dudley but they are not so far from competing for an ACC Title that it is time to start over. Not to mention the old argument that Skinner is the winningest all-time basketball coach at BC and has brought unprecedented success to the Heights where only making the dance in one of two seasons is suddenly reason to talk about firing him.
As far as next year, it can't be worse for BC. BC isn't going to the postseason this year so the only way to go is up and all our starters return. With only losing Tyler Roche it is hard to imagine that BC won't get a little better while some other ACC schools will be losing a lot more talent to the NBA and graduation.
Big Finish
Jeff: SI’s Andy Staples names 6 ACC football programs that have a chance to win the 2010 conference title. BC, of course, is not among those teams. Your thoughts?
Brian: If you agree that the Coastal Division will be stronger next year, this isn't exactly going out on a limb. He named 2/3 of the Coastal Division.
Brian: Gobbler Country determined that it cost BC $3,881,613 per win in football and $632,101 per win in men’s basketball in 2009-2010. Your thoughts?
Jeff: The $3,881,613 was money well spent. Those wins in front of 3,000 fans at Conte are a little expensive.
Jeff: The Globe reports that Al Skinner was the highest paid BC employee in 2007-2008, bringing in a salary of $2.2 million. Your thoughts?
Brian: Probably not the most opportune time to report this news.
Brian: Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has an idea to liven up spring practices - he wants the Tigers to play the Georgia Bulldogs in a preseason exhibition game. Is this a good idea?
Jeff: No. Great for fans but not for schools and players.
Jeff: The 5-6 BC baseball team opens ACC play this weekend with a three-game series with No. 13 Miami. Any chance the Eagles can steal the series from the Canes?
Brian: Pat Dean (2-0, 3.86) could take game 1, but after that, or other two weekend starters have ERAs north of 9. Not very likely.
Brian: Fenway Sports Group extended its partnership with the BC ISP Sports Network through 2019. Good news?
Jeff: At least there's always a way to follow BC action online.
Jeff: Last one, Hockey East quarterfinals begin tonight with BC taking on UMass at Conte Forum. Who ya got? What’s the final score?
Brian: I've got the Eagles winning tonight 3-1.
19 comments | 0 recs |
The other thing is, when you look at our club and we only get nine assists for a game - that is not our club, we usually get that in a half. That means that the ball is not moving and we are not making good decisions on the offensive end.
2 days ago
Brian @ BCI
2 comments
0 recs
Opening Round ACC Tournament Open Thread: Boston College vs. Virginia
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 11, 2010 9:30 AM EST
in Game Thread
115 comments
vs. 
#8 Boston College Eagles (15-15, 6-10 ACC) vs. #9 Virginia Cavaliers (14-15, 5-11 ACC)
What: ACC Men's Basketball Tournament First-Round
Time: 12:00 EST
Date: Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010
Place: Greensboro Coliseum (cap. 23,500), Greensboro, N.C.
TV: Raycom
BC's ACC Men's Basketball Tournament History
SB Nation ACC Tournament Story Stream
The Line: BC -4.5
Last Time Out: N.C. State defeated BC 66-54 as the Eagles fell to 15-15, 6-10 ACC.
Series: Virginia leads the all-time series 6-4.
Last Meeting: Boston College 68, Virginia 55 (Mar. 3, 2010)
This is the first meeting between the Eagles and Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament.
Trends: After getting off to a fast start in conference play (3-0), Virginia has dropped 11 of 13 and goes into the ACC Tournament on a 9 game losing streak. BC is 5-4 all-time in the ACC Tournament.
Virginia's 2008-2009 Record: 10-18 (4-12 ACC)
Probable Starters:
- G - Sammy Zeglinski (So.) - 6'0", 180 lbs., Philadelphia, Pa. - 8.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG
- G - Jeff Jones (Jr.) - 6'4", 190 lbs., Chester, Pa. - 6.8 PPG, 1.2 RPG
- G - Mustapha Farrakhan (Jr.) - 6'4", 175 lbs., Harvey, Il. - 6.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG
- F - Mike Scott (Jr.) - 6'8", 239 lbs., Chesapeake, Va. - 11.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG
- F/C - Jerome Meyinsse (Sr.) - 6'9", 233 lbs., Baton Rouge, La. - 6.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG
It's time for the ACC men's basketball tournament. The Eagles and Cavaliers kick off the day's action at noon, playing for the right to move on to face #1 seeded Duke Blue Devils. Our full game preview is posted over at SB Nation under the story stream.
The rest of the schedule for today (all times approximate):
(5) Wake Forest vs. (12) Miami - 2:00 PM ET (Raycom)
(7) Georgia Tech vs. (10) North Carolina - 7:00 PM ET (ESPN2)
(6) Clemson vs. (11) N.C. State - 9:00 PM ET (Raycom)
Leave your thoughts on the BC game and the rest of the day's action below.
Go Eagles!
115 comments | 0 recs
Toss Up: 2010 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Edition
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 11, 2010 8:26 AM EST
in Basketball
13 comments
To preview this weekend's ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, we play a game of Toss Up.
Toss Up - How Many ACC Tournament Wins Does BC Need for an NIT Berth - 1 or 2+?
Jeff: One win plus the RPI booster of playing Duke is plenty for BC to get into the NIT. Of course I haven't yet studied was exactly has happened throughout the land of mid-major conference tournaments because every time the regular season champ in one of those conferences fails to win their tournament and head to the NCAA tournament, it steals a spot from a team like Boston College in the NIT.
Brian: I'm going to have to go with two or more here. With an RPI currently in the 100s, while a second game against Duke will give BC a temporary boost, I don't think it will be enough to get the Eagles over the NIT bubble. The loss to N.C. State was really damning for BC because suddenly the Pack have won 3 of their last 4, won the only head-to-head meeting, have a better record overall and an RPI that's about even with ours. Based on the current ACC picture, our biggest competition will come from N.C. State, North Carolina, Miami and Virginia. UVA looks to be out but the other three - despite the head-to-head records against UNC and Miami - look to have a better shot at the NIT than we do right now. Two wins and we are a lock for the NIT. One and I think we are going to the CBI, being one of the first teams not selected by the NIT.
Toss Up - Better Chance of Pulling Off an ACC First Round Upset - #11 N.C. State or #12 Miami?
Brian: While Miami has lost 11 of their last 14, that's not to say that they haven't been competitive down the stretch. The Canes pushed a good Florida St. team to the limit in a 61-60 loss to end the season. The few wins they do have in the ACC have been to quality opponents, including Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest (they're first round opponent). However, while Miami has played teams tough, there's one fact I just can't overlook - 0-8 away from the BankUnited Center in ACC play. I can't in my right mind now believe that a team that went winless in the ACC away from home is suddenly going to upset Wake Forest on a pro-state of North Carolina, "neutral" court. N.C. State always seems to overachieve in the ACC Tournament, and if the Pack can win the battle of big men (Tracy Smith vs. Trevor Booker), I like N.C. State's chances to pull off the first round upset.
Jeff: I'm going to go with Miami here. I think picking N.C. State would really be giving them too much credit for their win on Sunday over BC. N.C. State did not look impressive for much of that game but hung around and played well down the stretch. Now that they're playing in a game that means something, I think Clemson will make quick work of them. Miami, meanwhile, has a tough matchup against Wake Forest but the Canes have been playing many teams tough recently even though they've still lost 3 games in a row. Kenpom agrees with me though and gives Miami a much more realistic shot.
Toss Up - Event More Likely to Occur - Duke Wins ACC Title or ACC Team Makes Final Four?
Jeff: Duke has a far easier road to winning the ACC than getting to the Final Four. En route to an ACC Championship, the Blue Devils would play only one ranked team in Maryland. To get to a Final Four, the Devils would have to play at least two and one of those two would probably be a top ten team. Also, playing in Greensboro is a much friendlier place to play for the Blue Devils than whatever arenas they might end up playing in during the NCAA Tournament.
Brian: I think you'll see Duke end up in the West Region, which may prove to be the easiest of the four paths to the Final Four. That being said, winning 3 games closer to home in Greensboro is much easier than winning 4 games, only two of which are likely to be close to home before the Blue Devils go off to their Regional semifinals site. I'll agree with you here. The ACC Tournament Title is slightly more likely, but in a season where anyone seeded 2-8 could make a run at the ACC Title, I do have my doubts. Especially with the way BC played Duke close over 40 minutes of basketball (a shame that those 40 minutes spanned two separate games!).
Toss Up - Who's your Champion? An ACC Atlantic team or an ACC Coastal team?
Brian: Ahh, splitting basketball up into the ACC's two divisions that don't make any sense. I've got to go with the Coastal Division here just to take Duke. Of their closest challengers, I don't see Duke getting tripped up by Maryland a second time, especially with the beatdown they put on the Terps in their first matchup at Cameron Indoor. Then if you look at what Duke did to the rest of the ACC Atlantic contenders - a 90-70 win over Wake Forest, two wins over Clemson by margins of 21 and 13, and a 70-56 win over Florida St. - I don't think you can go wrong with picking the Blue Devils. While taking the Atlantic would be the logical choice from an odds perspective, I feel strongly that this tournament is Duke's to lose. That's of course bad news for BC.
Jeff: I'll take the Atlantic Division here because that way I have BC for starters but then I also have Maryland, Clemson, Wake Forest and Florida State. Despite Virginia Tech being the #4 seed I give them no chance of winning the tournament, so the Atlantic Division covers every team aside from Duke that I think has a chance to cut down the nets on Sunday. North Carolina, Miami, Virginia and Georgia Tech have no chance to win four games in four days.
Last one, Toss Up - More points in the ACC Tournament - Joe Trapani or Reggie Jackson?
Jeff: Our favorite debate. Trapani has really been far more efficient lately and clearly the offensive scoring leader of the team down the stretch. I think this will continue in the ACC Tournament but I would not say that Joe will be MVP even though he might be the leading scorer. I say this because Jackson has been doing well at the point and has been improving his assist totals.
Brian: If things go well for the Eagles, this won't be a contest. Jackson will run the offense, rack up a ridiculous amount of assists, and get the ball to Trapani, Sanders and Raji. I'll say the leading scorers for BC go 1) Trapani 2) Sanders 3) Jackson, with Raji a close fourth. However, this prediction assumes that BC will get more than one game in the Tournament. With both Sylven Landesberg and Calvin Baker out of the lineup for UVA, the Cavs will have a guy typically coming off the bench guarding Jackson. I expect Reggie to be able to do some damage against the 'Hoos given their lack of depth at the guard spots.
13 comments | 0 recs |
Hockey East Tournament Preview: Eagles Set Out To Reclaim Title
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 10, 2010 5:49 PM EST
in Hockey
2 comments
Here's a look at what to the eight team field for this year's Hockey East Tournament. The tournament kicks this weekend with the best-of-three quarterfinals in Durham, Chestnut Hill, Boston and Orono. All quarterfinal games will be played on Friday-Sunday, March 12-14. All games start at 7 PM ET except for Friday night's game between BU and Merrimack, which starts at 7:30.
Participants
New Hampshire Wildcats
Seed: 1
Record: 16-11-7, 15-6-6 Hockey East
Head Coach: Dick Umile
Leading Scorers: Sr. Bobby Butler (25-22-47), Jr. Paul Thompson (16-18-34), So. Blake Kessel (8-25-33)
Leading Goaltender: Sr. Brian Foster (15-11-7, 3.06 GAA, .906 SV%)
Hockey East Titles: 2 (last 2003)
Regular Season Record against Vermont: 2-0-1
Boston College Eagles
Seed: 2
Record: 21-10-3, 16-8-3 Hockey East
Head Coach: Jerry York
Leading Scorers: Jr. Brian Gibbons (15-27-42), So. Cam Atkinson (21-20-41), Jr. Joe Whitney (13-18-31)
Leading Goaltender: Fr. Parker Milner (9-2-1, 2.10 GAA, .914 SV%)
Hockey East Titles: 8 (last 2008)
Regular Season Record against Massachusetts: 3-0-0
2 comments | 0 recs
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Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
(updated 3.14.2010 at 3:26 AM EST)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| Duke Blue Devils | 13 | 3 | 28 | 5 |
Maryland Terrapins
|
13 | 3 | 23 | 8 |
|
Virginia Tech Hokies
|
10 | 6 | 23 | 8 |
|
Florida St. Seminoles
|
10 | 6 | 22 | 9 |
|
Clemson Tigers
|
9 | 7 | 21 | 10 |
|
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
9 | 7 | 19 | 10 |
|
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
|
7 | 9 | 22 | 11 |
|
Boston College Eagles
|
6 | 10 | 15 | 16 |
|
N.C. State Wolfpack
|
5 | 11 | 19 | 15 |
|
North Carolina Tar Heels
|
5 | 11 | 16 | 16 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 5 | 11 | 15 | 16 |
|
Miami Hurricanes
|
4 | 12 | 20 | 13 |
Eagles Basketball Schedule
Last 5 Games
| Virginia | Thu 03/11 | L 62 - 68 |
| Virginia | Thu 03/11 | L 62 - 68 |
|
@
N.C. State
|
Sun 03/07 | L 54 - 66 |
| Virginia | Wed 03/03 | W 68 - 55 |
|
@
Georgia Tech
|
Sat 02/27 | L 68 - 73 |
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
