Georgia Tech pulls away late for win over Boston College
Georgia Tech pulled away late to grind out a hard-fought 65-53 win over ACC foe Boston College on Saturday in Atlanta, Ga.
Lamar Washington facilitated a lot of the offense for the Yellow Jackets (10-5, 1-1 ACC) and had a game-high 17 points, five assists and 12 rebounds. Kowacie Reeves Jr. added 16 points and Baye Ndongo chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
Donald Hand Jr. had 13 points for Boston College (7-7, 0-1) but shot 2-for-13 from the field. Boden Kapke provided a spark off the bench with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
It took a while for Reeves, Georgia Tech's leading scorer, to get going but he finally started to put his head down and attack the Eagles. He made a step-through layup, and then a few possessions later had another great drive to help the Yellow Jackets equal their biggest lead of the half at that point at 40-36 with 12:22 to play.
After the Eagles got a 4-point lead, Reeves turned it back on with a transition layup and got fouled hard on another make in the lane to give the Yellow Jackets back the lead at 48-46 with 6:28 left.
Washington hit a huge 3-pointer with 2:06 left for an 11-point lead and sealed the Eagles' fate. Boston College went cold down the stretch, missing 12 of 15 to end the game.
Boston College had a rough day shooting, making just 18 of 66 shots (27.3%) and going 4-for-29 from 3-point range (13.8%).
It was a rough first half all around, but Georgia Tech used its staunch defense to take the first big lead of the day. After Akai Fleming dunked it after forcing Hand to turn the ball over, Ndongo forced Fred Payne into a bad shot and took the rebound coast-to-coast.
Fleming capped the 12-2 run with a pair of free throws, and the Yellow Jackets took a 27-17 lead with 4:29 before the half.
Those were the last points for Georgia Tech in the first half as the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to close the frame. Boston College used eight offensive rebounds in the half to stay alive, highlighted by a tip-in layup off a miss from Kapke to cut the lead to 27-24 at the half.
The Eagles shot 1-for-15 from 3-point range (6.7%) in the first half. Georgia Tech didn't fare much better, shooting just 12.5%, but benefited from a 13-0 lead in fast break points.