Boston College Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season With Win Over Notre Dame

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The Boston College Eagles (11-20, 4-14 ACC) men’s basketball team ended the regular season with a 77-69 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (13-18, 4-14 ACC) on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Irish jumped out to an early 7-6 lead over the Eagles with 14:59 to go in the opening half. Both teams made three baskets to start the contest, the difference that put Notre Dame on top was one of those baskets was a three-pointer by guard Braeden Shrewsberry.

After the first timeout of the afternoon, Boston College went on a 7-3 run and gained the lead 13-10 with 11:56 left in the first. Eagles guard Fred Payne led the stretch with five points on a three-pointer and layup.

Notre Dame knotted up the contest at 16 with 9:39 to go, but a three-pointer by Boston College big man Boden Kapke gave the Eagles the lead back 19-16 with nine minutes remaining in the first.

Kapke’s three-pointer was the last shot Boston College made from the field in the first half. The Eagles ended the half making 11 free throw attempts, but Notre Dame went into halftime with the 33-30 lead.

Three-pointers were the biggest factor in Notre Dame’s halftime lead. In the first 20 minutes of play, the Fighting Irish made six of its 16 shots from behind the arc (37.5 percent) while the Eagles made just two of their 17 attempts (12.5 percent).

Coming out of the break, Notre Dame outscored Boston College 8-5 to extend its lead over the Eagles 41-35 with 15:54 remaining in regulation.

The Eagles scored six consecutive points to knot up the contest at 41, but the Fighting Irish responded and scored five unanswered points to go back in front 46-41 with 13:51 left in the game.

Boston College gained its first lead of the second half 55-53 with 8:08 left in the contest after a three-pointer by Payne and never looked back.

The Eagles picked up their largest lead of the day 63-56 within the final four minutes of the game which was enough to earn the victory.

“God was amazing for us today in terms of he had a plan for us and I woke up feeling that," said Boston College men's basketball head coach Earl Grant. "Not that I knew we were gonna win the game, but I did feel that God had a plan for us. We gotta trust him... There was a lot of peace in me today coming into the building.”

Payne led the Eagles with 24 points and four players got into double digits.

Boston College will now await its postseason fate. If Pitt loses to Syracuse later this afternoon, Boston College’s season will continue in the ACC Tournament. If Pitt wins, the Eagles’ season comes to a close.