Late Duke Surge Fends Off Boston College Upset Bid 63-55

Boston College played competitively and battled Duke until the end dropping a close one at Conte Forum 63-55. Led by 17 points by Vernon Carey and 18 by Tre Jones , the Blue Devils improved to 19-3 on the season, while Boston College dropped to .500. Conte Forum was the loudest it has been in a long time for a BC basketball game, however fans left the game without the upset win. 

The Eagles jumped up to an early 14-4 lead, on some fantastic shooting including a massive dunk by CJ Felder and alley oop from Derryck Thornton to Jared Hamilton. Duke responded to though with a 9-4 run of their own, keeping the game within one. The Eagles ended the first half up one on a jumper from Thornton. 

Shooting was poor by both teams, as neither team hit a three pointer in the first half, Duke shot around 25% and BC was only slightly better from the field. 

BC and Duke continued to battle in the second half with both teams trading leads. Carey started to assert himself under the basket grabbing rebounds and out muscling the BC defenders for easy buckets. Nik Popovic hit the first three pointer, breaking an 0-23 drought by the two teams. 

With five minutes left in the game, Duke began to pull away. Shots began to fall, and Boston College struggled with the Blue Devil press. The Eagles turned the ball over frequently and all of a sudden Duke had built up a six point lead. Jim Christian's team continued to battle, but a layup by Javin DeLaurier sealed it for Duke who won the game 63-55.

Derryck Thornton led the way for the Eagles in the losing effort, scoring 21 points against his former team. This was a great effort by the team, especially after losing by 39 to Duke only a month ago. But a loss is a loss, and the Eagles will need to get back in the win column on Saturday when they face Virginia Tech on the road.