UMass Defeats Boston College In Commonwealth Classic
Marcus Banks Jr.’s 29-point effort leads the Minutemen to Win Number 7
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - In a highly-anticipated Commonwealth clash, UMass basketball took down Boston College 76-74 in a game that came down to its last possession here on Wednesday night.
Despite blowing a 14-point lead, the Minutemen hung on by a thread to register their fourth straight victory.
The Eagles entered the matchup on a very different path. They came in winning just two in their last five, with one of those wins coming against a newly Division I promoted New Haven in a close contest. However, Wednesday night’s close game swayed the way of UMass.
Marcus Banks Jr. led the Minutemen once again with 29 points on 10/17 shooting, while posting seven rebounds. He also shot a very efficient 6/10 from beyond the arc.
Donald Hand Jr.’s 18-point performance and late heroics for BC weren’t enough to overcome the many runs UMass made throughout the game. Hand Jr. led the Eagles in scoring, but Fred Payne, Boden Kapke and Chase Forte all joined him in double-figures.
With less than a minute left and the score tied, it came down to a game of possessions, or in this case, free throws.
After Banks Jr. tried to force a pass into Leonardo Bettiol on the low block, which squirmed out of bounds, Boston College was going the other way with the score tied and less than 40 seconds to go.
Forte took the ball and drove aggressively through the lane where UMass hands were flying everywhere. He found the contact he needed to draw and went to the line for two pivotal shots.
The first one to take the lead, off. The second of the pair, off once again.
Jayden Ndjigue corralled the ball for the Minutemen on the miss and gave head coach Frank Martin a chance to draw up a play for the win.
The inbound eventually found Banks Jr. with a chance to get to his spot, and he did.
The Hampton, Va., native dribbled into the mid-range and rose for a jumper to take the lead with the last few seconds ticking off the clock. His shot….missed, but contact on the release gave UMass a chance to do what Boston College couldn’t – make free throws.
Banks Jr. took a breath, and knocked down his first free throw to take the lead.
Before the second, he began barking out defensive orders to his team to prepare. However, that didn’t distract him from knocking down the second with ease.
The Eagles had two seconds left to win it. Boston College head coach Earl Grant put it in the hands of Forte, who found nothing but bright Maroon and White jerseys. His acrobatic prayer wasn’t even close, and UMass escaped with a massive victory.
Boston College’s bigs struggled to lower their aggressiveness, with both Jayden Hastings and Kapke fouling out of the game. Forte also found himself in foul trouble late, forcing the Eagles into soft defensive sets.
Despite Banks Jr. hitting the most pivotal free throws of the game, his team went 54.2% from the line, compared to Boston College’s 77.1%. The difference came in clutch time, though, and that was when UMass’ stars capitalized.
Prior to the eventful finish, it was very much a game of runs.
Bettiol opened up the half on fire, with seven points, which included a powerful layup through content, which resulted in a three-point play. A few possessions later, Banks Jr. did the same from beyond the arc, bringing the hundreds of Minutemen fans to their feet. The newest 8-0 run extended it to UMass’ largest lead at 14 with 12 minutes to go.
However, when it looked like the Minutemen would start pulling away, a fierce seven-point run from Hand Jr. cut the deficit back down to seven. Dwayne Wimbley Jr. responded with a layup, but Hand Jr. drove right into the shoulder of Dimitri Clerc and converted another layup through illegal content. His guard counterpart, Payne finished inside on the following possession to make it a three-point game.
On the ensuing possession, Kapke drove past a sprawling Wimbley Jr., whose three-point play squared the ball game at 56. Forte’s swift up-and-under layup erased a 14-point UMass deficit to take the lead with eight minutes left to go.
Martin’s timeout didn’t affect a continued Eagles surge. Forte picked off another Danny Carbuccia pass, and took it the distance with a slam to give Boston College its largest lead at seven.
Kapke gifted UMass with four free throws after a technical foul and an illegal contest. The Minutemen went 2-for-4, but found a sliver of momentum after getting points on the board.
With four minutes to go, Bettiol took matters into his own hands with a trademark hook shot in the paint. Parker continued it on the next possession with a soft-touched floater in transition.
While Asemota’s dunk on the ensuing possession went through, his celebration earned him a technical foul. Parker split the pair.
Then, Banks Jr. brought the mostly-UMass crowd to its feet with a nothing-but-net three from the corner to take the lead back. That momentum ultimately propelled them to a victory.
The Minutemen shot 43.8% from beyond the arc, compared to the Eagles’ 13%. UMass’ efficiency scoring in all facets of the game gave them confidence down the stretch, but especially when the game was close in the first half.
Payne scored the opening points of the contest with a three, despite sputtering Boston College offensive ball movement. However, the Eagles followed it up with two consecutive Luka Toews air balls. Banks Jr. responded with a made three.
Both teams were tied up at three through the first four minutes with the squads combining for 20% shooting.
Banks Jr. continued to feel his jumper out of the timeout, with Hankins-Sanford finding success on the fast break with four quick points to extend the Minutemen lead to three.
Jason Asemota’s late-clock prayer shot from downtown, along with the Eagles’ success getting to the line kept them within a point halfway through the first frame.
K’Jei Parker responded with a spot-up three with the shot clock winding down, but Aidan Shaw’s skyscraping alley-oop slam ignited some energy for the team from Eastern Massachusetts, cutting the deficit once again down to two.
Banks Jr. continued his offensive assault by tacking on five more points to his total in the span of three minutes. However, once again, sound and gritty Eagle offensive possessions led by Boden Kapke kept the difference manageable.
The UMass sniper continued to dominate from beyond the arc, but an-and-one layup from Donald Hand Jr. kept the Eagles in it going into half with a score of 35-33 in favor of the Minutemen.
Banks Jr. led the Minutemen in scoring at the half with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Hankins-Sanford wasn’t far behind with nine.
The Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Florida awaits the Minutemen in their next game on Dec. 13, with UMass looking to avenge last season’s 33-point loss to Florida State. Tipoff will be at 12:00 p.m. on ACC Network.
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