Donald Hand Jr.'s 26 Points Lead Boston College Men's Basketball to Win Over Le Moyne

The Eagles finish their non-conference slate with a victory over the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.

Boston College Men's Basketball (BCMBB) via X

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.— The Boston College Eagles (7-6) men’s basketball team earned a 72-64 home win over the Le Moyne Dolphins (5-8) in its final non-conference game of the season. 

BC has had a problem with slow starts throughout the season, however that was not the case on Sunday afternoon. 

Boston College came out aggressive and gained an early 9-6 lead over Le Moyne with 14:39 to go in the first half. Eagles guards Fred Payne and Donald Hand Jr. scored all of the Eagles’ points during the stretch. 

After the Eagles’ strong start, the Dolphins battled back and made five of their next seven shot attempts to cut into their deficit 15-13 with 11:39 left in the half. Le Moyne center Shilo Jackson scored six of those points. 

Le Moyne took its first lead of the day 16-15 on its first possession out of the second media timeout. Dolphins guard Tennessee Rainwater put his team in front after drilling a three-pointer, his first of the day. 

Boston College went back in front 21-18 with 8:05 to go in the first 20 minutes of action after going on a 6-0 run. Payne led the Eagles’ run with five of their six points.

Down the stretch of the opening half, Le Moyne outscored Boston College 11-9, but the Eagles went into halftime with the one-point lead 30-29.  

In the half, Boston College shot 34.4% from the floor and 31.3% from behind the arc compared to Le Moyne’s 36.4% from the floor and 20% from three-point range. 

Coming out of the break, the Eagles extended their advantage over the Dolphins 41-34 with 15:12 to go which was led by a 7-0 run in two minutes and 33 seconds. Payne hit a three-pointer to cap off the run which put him at 18 points on the day, tying his season and career-high. 

Le Moyne, however, refused to go down without a fight and continued to battle back. The Dolphins went on a 18-7 run to go back in front 52-48 with 9:11 remaining in regulation. In the run, Le Moyne made six of its seven shot attempts while Boston College made just three of its nine attempts in the same time frame. 

Boston College knotted up the contest at 55 on a three-pointer by Hand Jr. with 6:31 to go and regained the lead on a dunk by Eagles forward Boden Kapke on the next possession.

After that, Boston College never looked back. 

The Eagles outscored Le Moyne 15-9 to end the game and cement the victory to finish their non-conference slate. 

Hand Jr. led the Eagles with 26 points.

Next up, Boston College opens ACC play at Georgia Tech on Jan. 3, 2026. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET on ACC Network.