Missed opportunities and more heartache for Boston College, which dropped an 89-86 double overtime decision to the visiting Miami Hurricanes. With the loss, Boston College falls to 9-15 and just 1-11 in ACC play. Miami improves to 16-9 overall and 6-6 in the ACC.
Miami would start the game hot early, jumping out to a 10-4 lead at the under 16 timeout. But BC would chip away, as Magarity, Hanlan and Heckmann rallied to give BC a 24-18 lead with 7:53 to play in the first half. Both offenses would stall out a bit, but Miami would claw back to end go into the locker room down 2 at the break. The Eagles got a surprisingly good first-half effort from Will Magarity off the bench, who finished the first half with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
BC would lead by as many as seven points in the second half, but Miami would chip away to take a one point lead with less than a minute to play. Then, the game took a rather odd turn.
With 58.7 seconds left and the Hurricanes up 1, Batten applied a bit of full-court pressure on Rodriguez. Rodriguez swung his arms around with the ball and popped Batten in the face with an elbow. The original call on the floor was a blocking foul on Batten, though it was Batten, not Rodriguez, who was shaken up on the play. After a lengthy officials' review, the refs tacked on a technical foul on Rodriguez, his fifth of the game, which gave BC two foul shots and the ball after Miami's two foul shots from the Batten foul.
When play resumed following the officials' review, Miami's Manu LeComte made both Hurricane free throws to extend the lead to 66-63 with 58 seconds to play. Olivier Hanlan hit one of two on the Rodriguez technical, as BC took the ball back down 2. Aaron Brown would be fouled on the play, sinking both free throws to knot the game at 66 with 35 seconds to play.
On the next Miami possession, Aaron Brown forced a charge on Deandre Burnett, which gave BC the ball with 21 seconds left. With just a few seconds left on the clock, Brown took a running jumper that clanked out, sending the game to OT at 66-66.
With 1:32 to go in the overtime session, Olivier Hanlan rattled in a three to give BC a 73-71 lead. On Miami's next possession, Batten managed a steal, allowing BC to set up the half-court offense. Aaron Brown's three-point jumper didn't go down, but Heckmann came down with the rebound in the corner, resetting the offense. With the shot clock winding down, Heckmann drove to the hoop and found Dennis Clifford at the last second in the paint for a wide open, thunderous dunk to put BC up 75-71 with 24 seconds to play. Miami's Deandre Burnett would drive the length of the court, making the layup and drawing the foul. After Burnett's free throw, BC was up 75-74 with 18.2 seconds to play.
On the next possession, Miami would foul Batten, who missed the first but sunk the second to put BC up two, 76-74. On the other end, a pair of Burnett free throws would tie the game at 76 with 11.5 seconds to play.
With 8.0 seconds to play, Hanlan inbounded to Heckmann. With Miami's defenders thinking the ball was going right back to Hanlan, a great ball fake by Heckmann and a pivot later and Heckmann was off to the races. The senior had a WIDE open layup attempt that would hang on the edge of the rim but didn't have enough. A Miami desperation three at the buzzer was too strong as BC and Miami headed to a second OT session.
To 2 OT we went. After trading buckets early in the second overtime, the game was tied 82-82 with a little over a minute to play. A long Olivier Hanlan three-pointer as the shot clock was winding down wouldn't go down and a Heckmann tip-in attempt on the offensive rebound would fall short. Once Miami regained possession, Heckmann committed his fifth foul in Miami's backcourt, sending Tonye Jekiri to the line for two. Jekiri hit both, giving Miami a 84-82 lead with 49.2 to go.
A Batten jumper was too strong, as was the offensive rebound tip-in attempt. Miami was able to inbounds the ball, and a Hanlan foul on Jekiri put the Miami big man on the line up two with 31.0 seconds to play. Jekiri hit both to extend the lead to four. A quick Olivier Hanlan three-pointer rattled out and a Burnett free throw would put Miami up five.
An Aaron Brown slam and a quick foul put Miami back on the line, up three, 87-84, with 14.1 to play. An Olivier Hanlan layup and a quick foul sent Burnett back to the line with Miami up 88-86. Burnett would again miss one of his two free throw attempts. Hanlan would bring the ball up the length of the court, but his three point attempt was well past the final buzzer.
Missed opportunities would once again doom the Eagles, despite putting together a full 40-minute performance. Heckmann's missed layup at the end of the first OT was the most painful example of BC's numerous chances to close out this game. The senior was visibly frustrated after fouling out of the second overtime period. BC would also miss six free throws, finishing 18-of-24, while Miami missed seven (30-of-37) but made the ones that counted down the stretch.
Five Eagles would finish in double figures, paced by Hanlan's 32 points on 13-of-26 shooting (5-of-12 from three). Heckmann finished with 13 on 4-of-7 shooting, while Aaron Brown, Dennis Clifford and Magarity all finished with 10.
Once again close, but just not enough. The loss, the Eagles' sixth straight overall, extends the program's losing streak against Miami to a whopping 10 games. The Eagles last beat the Hurricanes back on January 19, 2010, a 79-75 BC win at the UM Convocation Center. BC also remains the only ACC team without a home win in conference play (0-6).
The Eagles are back in action late Wednesday night, as they travel to take on the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee. Florida State is coming off a 57-53 victory over Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Saturday.
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