 Media Credit: Ryan Littman-Quinn Tyrelle Blair blocks a shot during the Eagles' 68-62 win over Florida Atlantic.
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It's not something that has been seen often in the past few years at Boston College.
But on Monday night, Al Skinner's team used the press to its advantage, rattling Florida Atlantic in the final minutes to take a come-from-behind, 68-62 win over the Owls on Monday at Conte Forum.
BC trailed FAU by eight following Paul Graham III's 3-pointer with eight minutes remaining, but the Eagles went on a 14-1 run over the next 4:02 to take a five-point lead. BC's ball-hawking defense forced the Owls into three turnovers and 0-3 shooting during the run.
"The pressure just changed their momentum," Skinner said. "I thought they looked very comfortable against our man, against our zone. They got very comfortable. They had a good feel for where the shots were coming from. I think when we speeded them up a little bit, the ball started moving and either guys were hesitant or they weren't sure what they were trying to do."
The one-two-two press was keyed by freshman Corey Raji, who, despite having just two points and one rebound, was a key contributor to the win.
"We didn't do a good job in our half-court defense, so we needed to change the game a little bit. He's very capable of that," Skinner said of Raji. "That's the look that he can give us.
The game marked the return of Tyrese Rice and Shamari Spears to the BC line-up.
Both were suspended for last Saturday's season opener against New Hampshire after participating in a non-NCAA-certified summer game in Lynn, Mass.
"It wasn't a league, it was just like a Lynn versus Boston thing," Rice said. "It was more like an organized open gym basically. People could just walk in and see. We made a poor decision … we had to pay the price for it. Luckily, it was only one game. Everyone knows it could've been more, but luckily it was only one game."
It was lucky for the Eagles, who needed everything Rice and Spears brought to the table to beat FAU. Rice had a game-high 21 points with nine assists, and Spears had 18 points and nine rebounds.
"I felt like I let my teammates down by making a poor decision over the summer, playing in a game or whatever," Spears said. "So I felt like I owed the team something being that it was my first game back, so I just did what I had to do for my team."
For the second straight game, BC was forced to come from behind at the half. The Eagles trailed, 33-31, at the break, and saw the Owls' lead balloon to seven less than two minutes into the half on a layup by Carderro Nwoji.
BC briefly took the lead when freshman Rakim Sanders, who had 11 points after debuting with 22 against UNH, scored on a layup off a nifty pass from Rice, but the Owls responded. FAU went on a 10-2 run over the next 4:38 to push the lead up to eight, setting up BC's comeback.
"We're still not in sync and it showed at times tonight," Skinner said. "I know for a fact that this team is going to get better. The thing that I'm not sure, and I know we're not at this point, that we completely understand each other and what we're trying to do. So errors are being made, mistakes are being made. But that's going to improve as the season moves on."
2008 Woodie Awards
