Boston College Men's Basketball Drops Hall of Fame Classic to UMass

The Eagles suffered a last second loss to the Minutemen on Wednesday night.

Boston College men's basketball guard Luka Toews with the ball against UMass in the Hall of Fame Classic at MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass on Dec. 10, 2025. Photo Credit: John Sexton / Boston College Eagles On SI | John Sexton / Boston College Eagles On SI

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— The Boston College Eagles (5-6) men’s basketball team dropped the Hall of Fame Classic game to the UMass Minutemen (7-3) 76-74 on Wednesday night at MassMutual Center.

Boston College struggled to shoot from the get go. After Eagles guard Fred Payne made their first shot attempt, a three-pointer, they made two of their next 16 shot attempts.

UMass had the opposite problem. After missing their first three shot attempts of the night, UMass went 6-of-14 from the floor in the same stretch to earn an early 14-6 lead with 9:17 to go in the first half. 

The Minutemen kept the advantage for the remainder of the half. Boston College ended the first strong as it went on an 8-2 run in the final two minutes and 41 seconds of play, but could not do enough to regain the lead and was down 35-33 heading into halftime. 

In the first 20 minutes of play, Boston College shot 31.3% from the floor and 16.7% from behind the arc compared to UMass’ 43.3% from the floor and 40% from three-point range. 

Both teams also had challenges playing clean ball in the first half. The Eagles and Minutemen committed eight fouls apiece and turned the ball over seven times each, but Boston College did a better job at capitalizing on its opponents miscues. 

Boston College scored seven points off of UMass’ seven turnovers and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. UMass did not score on any turnover and went 5-for-9 from the free throw line. 

Coming out of the break, UMass opened the second half with a strong shooting performance. The Minutemen made six of their 10 baskets in the first four and a half minutes to extend their lead 46-38 with 15:25 to go in regulation. 

Boston College only had five shot attempts in the same stretch and it made just a pair of them. 

After the Eagles cut their deficit to six points, the Minutemen went on a quick 6-0 run to extend their lead into double digits 54-40, however Boston College refused to go down without a fight. 

Boston College went on a 16-2 run over two minutes and 36 seconds and knotted the contest at 56 after a layup and free throw by Eagles big man Boden Kapke with 8:47 to go. 

On the following possession, Eagles guard Chase Forte put BC up 58-56 with a layup, the team’s first lead since 8-7 with 13:58 left in the first half. 

The Eagles kept their lead until the 3:12 mark of the second. Eagles forward Jason Asemota was called for a technical after a dunk and the Minutemen drained one of the two technical shots and a three-pointer to go back in front 69-68. 

Boston College tied things up at 74 with a layup by Donald Hand Jr. with 1:15 left in the game, but the tie was short lived. 

Forte committed a foul with five seconds left and UMass drained both free throws to go up 76-74. After Boston College called a timeout with 2.3 seconds left, Forte attempted the game-winning three-pointer which was missed to seal the win for the Minutemen. 

“They made their run. We made our adjustment and stabilized the game in the second half with a few changes that we made," said Boston College men's basketball head coach Earl Grant. "Unfortunate that at the end it didn’t go our way.”

Next up, Boston College returns to Conte Forum to host the FDU Knights on Monday, Dec. 22. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX.