The young Eagles halted a four game losing skid this afternoon, scoring 22 unanswered to end the first half and holding onto a 66-51 victory over the Stony Brook Seawolves. Patrick Heckmann lead all BC scorers with 18 points, including a perfect 5-5 from the field, while Ryan Anderson (10 points, 8 boards) and Jordan Daniels (12 points, 8 boards) also had big games.
The opening minutes of the game were nearly unwatchable, with the Eagles committing several bad turnovers (10 in the game's first 13 minutes) and allowing Stony Brook to jump out to an 11-6 lead. Sure, the Eagles played better defense during the rest of the first half, but the Seawolves also didn't do themselves any favors. Stony Brook went stone cold from the floor for the rest of the first half, missing 16 straight shots to finish 5-for-32 for the half. Even with Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell rotating guys in, no one seemed to give the Seawolves much of a spark shooting the ball.
The result was the lowest point total in a half in Conte Forum history (since 1998).
Stony Brook went on runs of 7-1 and 12-4 to start in the second half, but after a Donahue timeout up 11, the Eagles settled down and started playing better defensively. It was nice to see Donahue give the starters more playing time, as he starts to cut down on the rotations and give more playing time to the starters. Just six players finished with 20+ minutes -- Jordan Daniels (39 minutes), Lonnie Jackson (32), Dennis Clifford (32), Matt Humphrey (31), Ryan Anderson (23) and Patrick Heckmann (22). Moton, who played just one minute, was likely limited due to his right ankle injury suffered in the loss to Providence.
Overall, I felt that this team played a bit better in the loss at PC. There were plenty of missed opportunities, including loads of BC turnovers (17), some defensive breakdowns in the second half and some poor shooting from Jordan Daniels in particular. Daniels finished the day 5-for-16 from the floor, including 0-8 from beyond the arc.
That said, the Eagles may have finally put together their first 40-minute performance. The win, of course, is a huge boost to this young team's psyche. Hopefully Donahue and the team can build on this victory, particularly over the next several games. The Eagles have two very winnable games coming up -- Bryant (December 18) and Sacred Heart (December 21) before hosting 24th ranked Harvard on December 29.