RECAP: Boston College Basketball Defeats Sacred Heart 82-75

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.,- It was a tale of two halves at Conte Forum Sunday afternoon.

Despite a strong defensive performance in the first half, the Boston College Eagles struggled to suppress a surging Sacred Heart Pioneers team in the second half. The Eagles, however, were able to overcome their difficulties in the second half and defeat the Pioneers 82-75 in front of a sparse crowd at Conte Forum.

Jerome Robinson had 32 points in the game, a career high for the sophomore.

“I thought in the first half we did a good job,” BC coach Jim Christian said. “Not only forcing turnovers, but us not turning the ball over, and that’s how we had the lead.”

The Eagles were able to force 15 first half turnovers, scoring 18 of their 41 first points off Sacred Heart turnovers.

BC shot 41.7% from the field in the first half, despite several stretches where the offense struggled to generate offense from the field.

Despite the surge in the first half, the second half was more troublesome.

“In the second half, we didn’t turn them over, and we turned it over,” Christian said. “Finding consistency is a huge issue for us, we just gotta keep working at it. We gotta try to get consistent.”

Sacred Heart forced 11 second half turnovers for BC, and erased a 13 point Eagle lead in 5:55, helped by a 14-0 Pioneer run stretched through the beginning portion of the second half.

However, 15 second-half points by Jerome Robinson (with two points scored before the Sacred Heart run) and nine points by Ky Bowman powered the Eagles past the resurgent Pioneers, with the Eagles outscoring the Pioneers 22-18 during the last 5:13 of the game.

The Eagles will travel to Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. to take on another opponent from Fairfield, Conn., the Fairfield Stags, on Dec. 21.