Men’s Basketball Postgame Thread: Boston College falls to Georgia Tech 81-76

Boston College (6-8, 1-2 ACC) saw its comeback against Georgia Tech (7-8, 1-4) fall short Wednesday night at Conte Forum, falling 81-76. It was a game the Eagles will rue for missed chances and mental lapses in the closing minutes. Junior forward Quinten Post led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on 10-14 shooting, while Tristan Maxwell went 7-11 from the field, all from three, to lead Georgia Tech.

A slow start to the first half quickly delved into a series of runs by both teams, one after the other after the other. An early 23-19 BC lead quickly evaporated under an onslaught of threes from Tristan Maxwell and sloppy play on both ends of the floor by the Eagles.

But the Yellowjackets could never establish a lead of more than 8 points in the first half, and Brevin Galloway ended the half with three straight three-pointers to give the Eagles a two-point lead heading into halftime. His long-range accuracy complemented the Eagle’s 53 percent field goal percentage in the first half.

The gritty defensive playstyle that Earl Grant has tried to instill in this team since the beginning of the year appeared in stretches, but Georgia Tech’s motion-heavy Princeton-style offense left the Eagles on the back foot throughout the first half. BC gave up several easy fast-break buckets and let Tech hit nearly 50 percent of its shots in the first half.

The scoring spurts continued in the second. A confusing move by Earl Grant to switch to a zone defense against a team that was on fire from deep coincided with a 12-0 run to put the Yellowjackets up 54-42. That three-point threat invariably opened up a stream of back-cuts, which BC struggled to defend.

The Eagles gradually managed to cut down the lead to just one possession with five minutes left in game, marching forward by forcing offensive fouls or shot clock violations. Credit to BC and the coaching staff, the team never looked like it was panicking despite trailing by double digits. The Eagles stayed patient, methodical, and opportunistic. Some excellent play by Quinten Post capped off the rally as BC took a 68-66 lead with 4 minutes to left.

It was not to be, however. A 10-2 run by the Yellow Jackets in the closing minutes followed by a few defensive lapses and a horrendous alley-oop attempt ended any chance at capping off the comeback.

Boston College’s next game is at Clemson on January 15th. They’ll hope to bounce back after a frustrating loss here.