PointGuard

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  1. Posted · Edited by PointGuard

    Boston College Chronicle

    EAGLES TOPS IN ACC

    By Kinsey Ramsey

    Boston College’s basketball team finished their regular season schedule with an overall record of 26 wins against 5 losses.  The Eagles’ ACC 17-3 record resulted in a tie with Duke for 1st place in the ACC.  But BC will be the #1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. 

    Here are the ACC standings:

    Boston College: 17-3, 26-5, #3 in polls, #1 NET ranking

    Duke: 17-3, 27-5, #2 in polls, #5 NET ranking

    Notre Dame: 13-7, 22-9, #10 in polls, #13 NET ranking

    Florida State: 11-9, 17-13, Unranked, #33 NET ranking

    Pittsburgh: 11-9, 17-13, , Unranked, #60 NET ranking

    North Carolina: 11-9, 18-13, Unranked, #55 NET ranking

    Virginia: 10-10, 14-15, Unranked, #65 NET ranking

    Clemson: 10-10, 18-12, Unranked, #56 NET ranking

    Miami (FL): 10-10, 18-13, Unranked, #53 NET ranking

    Louisville: 9-11, 17-14, Unranked, #62 NET ranking

    North Carolina St.: 9-11, 16-15, Unranked, #109 NET ranking

    Wake Forest: 8-12, 14-15, Unranked, #124 NET ranking

    Georgia Tech: 6-14, 14-17, Unranked, #92 NET ranking

    Syracuse: 5-15, 13-17, Unranked, #159 NET ranking

    Virginia Tech: 4-16, 8-21, Unranked, #292 NET ranking

    The Eagles will be at full strength for the ACC Tourney, but the Athletic Department announced that sophomore PG Leonard Meliet, the team’s leading scorer, has decided to declare for the pro draft that will occur this summer.  Coach Aura acknowledged Meliet’s decision and said, “Leonard has been a leader on our team in both seasons he’s been here.  He’s been nominated for the Norton Award both years and this season was a semi-finalist for the award.  We’ll miss Leonard next season but are proud that he will be going to the pros and anticipate he will have a long and successful professional career.”

    Leonard Meliet’s regular season stats for Boston College: 68 games, 68 games started, 30.5 mpg, 16.0 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 spg, 0.7 bpg, 45.1% FG%, 40.5% 3P%, 76.2% FT%; ACC 2nd Team All-Conference as a freshman, ACC 1st Team All-Conference as a sophomore.

  2. Posted

    Janeka Aura

    Our son Omari came on strong as Providence’s regular season wound down.  He scored in double figures in 6 of their last 9 games, averaging 10.3 ppg over that span while averaging 19.3 mpg.  He hit 28 of 58 FG’s and 11 of 25 of his three-point attempts during that 9 game span.  This is important since he didn’t shoot too well last season or early this season.  He seems to be finding his shooting eye.

  3. Posted

    Mar. 3, 2029: Louisville Cardinals (17-13, 9-10) vs #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (25-5, 16-3) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    Gerald McEntire, President of “Eagles Soar”

    The basketball fan club for BC, Eagles Soar, has grown a great deal the past two years due to our basketball team’s successes.  Good turnout by our club for this final home game of the season.  We were disappointed with the loss to Duke earlier this week.  But we’re back to cheer on the Eagles tonight, hopefully lifting to yet another victory and at least a share of 1st place in the conference. 

    Strange…BC is starting Mike Braxton at SF tonight.  He plays very little so it’s surprising to see him in the starting lineup.

    Well, Braxton’s not afraid to put up shots.  Missed his first one, but then got fouled on his second attempt.  He sank both foul shots putting the Eagles ahead 8-2.  Once Louisville got going, both teams’ offenses predominated.  Louisville closed to within a single point, but then BC pulled away with hot shooting.  Fouls are piling up on Cardinals’ players…their coach is really riding the refs.  The half ended with BC on top 56-40.  The Eagles hit 64% of their FG’s and out-rebounded the Cardinals 20-10.  All eleven BC players who got into the game in the half, scored, led by C Jason Caldwell’s 10 points.

    Halftime report from Durham, NC is that Duke leads Wake Forest 56-33 at the half, so it looks like the Eagles will need to win tonight to tie for 1st place.

    Coach Aura is playing his bench a lot…and they’re doing well.  Adrian Moss on fire…4 for 4 from the field including 2 from beyond the arc, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 10 points in 10 minutes of play to help the Eagles go ahead 87-63 with 5 minutes remaining.  BC went on to drub Louisville 100-78.  The Eagles knocked down 62% of the field goal attempts, 53% of their 3 point attempts, and held a 35-27 rebounding advantage.  BC dominated in the paint, scoring 40 points while Louisville scored just 14 in the paint.

    C Courtland Reese scored 17 points in just 16 minutes of play, C Jason Caldwell put in 11 points, and SG Adrian Moss, SG Corey Graham, and C Greg Kidd each scored 10 points.  The seven bench players put on the court by Coach Aura scored a total of 58 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists.

    Duke won 93-57 over Wake Forest.

  4. Posted

    Mar. 1, 2029: #2 Duke Blue Devils (25-5, 15-3) vs #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (25-4, 16-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

    Big game.  Duke’s just a game behind us in the ACC standings.  A month-and-a-half ago we beat them by points in Durham, NC with a good come-back in the 2nd half.  The two centers, our Courtland Reese and Duke’s Brian Taylor both scored 20+ points and each one had 9 rebounds.  Taylor has continued to be one of the top candidates for the Norton award.  He’s a tough guy to contain.  Derek Hastie and Jerry Henry, Duke’s starting guards, both hit a high percentage of their shots.  Their defense is like a wet blanket for opponents, limiting their opposition to just 60.3 ppg (2nd best in the nation).  Since the game against us, the Blue Devils have won all 10 of their subsequent games and have climbed back up to #2 in the polls, a step above us. 

    Conte Forum is filled to capacity for this game…mostly  BC fans, but there is a sizeable and noisy Duke contingent as well.  The place is rockin’ even before the game begins.

    Three straight turnovers and driving layups by Duke give them a 10-2 lead after just 2 minutes of play.  Then SG Corey Graham picks up his 2nd foul a minute later.  Midway through the half the Eagles trail 25-9.  The air has been sucked out of Conte Forum.  We struggled to cut the lead to 8 points, but then another series of turnovers by us propelled the Blue Devils to a commanding 44-23 halftime lead.  We were outshot 64% to 29% and the 11 turnovers we made were devastating.

    We could only make repeated dents in the lead for the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half.  But we got within 10 points with 5 minutes to go.  But the Blue Devils responded by hitting a series of FG’s to keep us from making a serious challenge.  We ended up on the short end of a 76-67 score. 

    Very little positive about this game.  We were simply outplayed.  C Courtland Reese and PG Leonard Meliet were our only players to score in double figures.  Reese had 16 points and Meliet scored 13 points.

    The loss puts us into a tie with Duke for 1st place in the ACC.  One game to go.

  5. Posted

    V

    Fred Aura confronts his son Malik:

    (somewhat abbreviated version)

    Fred: What’s going on, Malik?

    Malik: Nothin’.

    Fred: Well, that’s not what I hear.

    Malik: Sounds like maybe someone’s got things wrong then.

    Fred: Let’s quit the jivin’.  Your grades are slipping, your attitude at school sucks, so much so that you could very well end up getting suspended, and…the main thing I’m definitely unhappy with is your lack of respect toward your mother.

    Malik: I’m still doing OK in school.  The classes have just got harder.  And I just haven’t felt like talking much at home. Got a lot of things on my mind, ya know.  The team’s about to start playoffs so I gotta concentrate on that.  The guys depend on me.

    Fred: Yes, you’re doing great on the basketball court.  But…you need to get your act together in the other parts of your life. Get back to working hard in class and on your homework.  Be respectful and positive toward your teachers.  And treat your mother like the person who cares more about you that anyone else.  As far as basketball goes, if you don’t get your act together and your attitude and actions don’t turn around, there will be no basketball because I’ll talk with your coach, who I am sure feels the same way that I do and you’ll be off the team.  While the team may be counting on you and you have a responsibility toward them, you have complete control over that since your attitude, focus, effort and actions EARN you the right to play.  Got that?

    Malik: [After a short silence]. Yeah Dad, I got it. 

    Fred: Good. I’m going to be checking in on you every night.  Let Travis and your new girlfriend know that won’t be spending much time with them for a while.

  6. Posted

    Feb. 24, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (24-4, 15-2) vs Clemson Tigers (17-10, 9-8) at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC

    SG Glen Robinson, ineligible this season due to transfer

    Having to sit out this year has been a real downer.  I can’t wait for next season to begin. Cincinnati, which I played for my first two years in college, has had a so-so season.  They’re 8-9 and in the middle of the American Athletic Conference standing.  So my decision to transfer to Boston College was a good one.  The Eagles have had great seasons last year and this year and the team should even be better next season.  Corey Graham has played well at SG this year, but I think I could have been a big asset for the team at SF which has been the Eagle’s weak link this year.

    This is our final away game.  We beat the Tigers by 12 points when we played them on our court.  Coach Aura has been warning us that they’re going to be a tough opponent on their court tonight.  But…I’ll be sitting on the far end of the bench again, watching yet another game.

    We started well opening an early 8 point lead, but then let Clemson catch fire and go on an 18-4 run that gave them a 22-16 lead at the midpoint of the first half.  We fought hard and kept it close, finishing the half just down by 2 at 44-42.  Both teams shot well, but the refs put the Tigers on the line too much. 

    It was a dog-fight the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half.  There were so many lead changes you finally just had to figure when one team got the lead that the other team would score on their next possession.  But then we went on a 9-0 run that put us up 75-68 with 8 minutes to go.  From there our defense shut down Clemson and we edged away to an 84-74 victory.

    Our top scorers were Leonard Meliet who threw down 18 points, SG Corey Graham who scored 16, and PG Rashon Thorn who hit 5 of 6 FG’s including all 4 of his 3-point attempts to finish with 15 points.  C Courtland Reese scored 8 and pulled down 12 boards.  As they did in our first game against Clemson, their starting guards Lou Robinson and Darius Wilson combined to score 32 points.

    So we are going into the final week of the regular season with a 1-game lead over Duke.  But the Blue Devils are our next opponent, so the conference title will be on the line.  We beat them on their court, so I like our chances with them on ours.

  7. Posted

    Phone call between Janeka (J) and Fred (F) Aura:

    (J) I’m really concerned, Fred.  I told you that there were some big changes in Malik.  He is continuing to spend more and more time away from home and coming jusin later and later.  He’s on social media a lot more all the time and he’s pretty secretive about what sites he’s on or what he’s doing there.  His school work is suffering due to him just doing the minimum on his homework.  The school called me today to let me know that Malik has been acting up at school.  They counseled him and gave him a warning, but said if he continues the next step is a suspension.  

    It seems to me that Travis Buchanan is exerting a lot of influence over Malik.  Remember you told me Travis has received a scholarship from Georgia Tech?  Now Travis is trying hard to convince Malik to also go to Georgia Tech when he graduates next year.  Things have improved for African-Americans down south.  But, Fred, I don’t want our son going down there for school.  And I don’t appreciate Travis giving him the hard sale to follow him down there.  And Travis has also hooked him up with a girl.  We haven’t met her and Malik’s not talking with me about her, but from what I hear from others who know here, she could lead him astray.  I keep trying to talk with Malik, but he just keeps clamming up.

    (F) OK, that all sounds bad to me also.  I’ll be home tomorrow.  It’s Saturday so Malik will be home all day and I will talk with him then.

    (J) I’m pleased to hear that.  I just hope you’re more successful than I’ve been.  Good luck with the game against Clemson tonight.

  8. Posted

    Feb. 22, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (23-4, 14-2) vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-13, 7-10) at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

    Boston College Chronicle

    By Kinsey Ramsey

    DOWN TO THE WIRE

    The Eagles trailed Wake Forest most of the first half.  Poor shooting (35%) and 0 for 4 from beyond the arc by BC compared to hot shooting (68%) including 7 of 8 on 3-pointers by the Demon Deacons resulted in Wake Forest holding a 43-38 halftime advantage.  Only SG Corey Graham, who scored 16 points in the half, was effective offensively for the Eagles.

    BC’s shooting improved in the 2nd half, but the Deacon Demons continued to knock down their shots also.  Finally with 10:40 left, the Eagles took a 58-56 lead on Graham’s 20 foot jump shot.  But the lead was short-lived.  After falling behind by 5 points, the Eagles again came back to tie the game at 66-66 with 2-1/2 minutes to play.  Wake Forest then scored 5 unanswered points in the next 40 seconds.  BC called a time out…their designed play resulted in a miss but C Courtland Reese grabbed the rebound, put the ball back into the hoop and was fouled.  He sunk the free throw to cut the Demon Deacons lead to 2 points with 1:32 on the clock.  Wake Forest missed a shot and BC again took a time out with a minute to go.  The Eagles again missed a shot.  Wake Forest tried to work down the clock but threw the ball away.  Michael Millford was fouled with 36 seconds remaining and he went to the line for a one-and-one.  He dropped both free throws thru the silks to tie the game at 71-71.  Wake Forest missed another shot, as did  the Eagles.  With Wake Forest working the ball around to set up a final shot, PF Danny Toliver tipped the ball away out front sped up court to retrieve the ball and drove to the hoop for a dunk giving BC a lead with a single second left in the game.  Wake Forest called a time out to set up a desperation shot.  The Eagles didn’t let them get the shot off and escaped with a 73-71 nail-biting victory.

    Top scorers for the Eagles were SG Corey Graham with 22 points, C Courtland Reese who scored 16 to go together with 8 rebounds, and PG Leonard Meliet who added 10 points plus 8 assists.

    While the Eagles were outshot by Wake Forest 53% to 42%, they forced the Demon Deacons to make 29 turnovers.

    The Eagles now travel to South Carolina to take on Clemson Friday night for their third game this week.  After that they then have just two home games remaining to close out their regular season.  One of those is against second place Duke.

  9. Posted

    Fred Aura

    My sons are playing some very good basketball.  Omari has scored in double figures in four of Providence’s last six games and he just missed double figures in the firth of those games.  He’s now averaging 7.3 ppg in his sophomore season for the Friars.

    And in his junior year Malik is the leading scorer on his high school team.  He’s been the team’s starting SG in every game they’ve played this season.  Quite a few college teams have scouted him thus far.

    I’m darned proud of both Omari and Malik.

  10. Posted

    Feb. 20, 2029: Virginia Tech Hokies (6-19, 2-14) vs #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (22-4, 13-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    Sports Report on WHDH TV’s 11 o’clock news:

    Duke ripped Miami 90-76 tonight for their 9th straight victory.  So a win by Boston College over Virginia Tech was a must for the Eagles if they were to keep from slipping a half-game behind the Blue Devils for first place in the ACC.

    Following last week’s loss to Pittsburgh and soft win over North Carolina State, Coach Fred Aura started freshman Darius Hein at SF for the first time this season. 

    Virginia Tech gave Boston College everything they could handle for the first 17 minutes of the game.  But the Eagles went on an 11-2 run in the final 3 minutes of the first half to go ahead 48-39 at the half.  PG Leonard Meliet and C Courtland Reese combined to score 32 points in the first half.

    Boston College held onto a lead throughout the second half but wasn’t able to shake the Hokies until the final few minutes of the game when the Eagles pulled away for an 89-71 victory.

    When interviewed after the game, Coach Aura has this to say, “Virginia Tech came at us hard all night.  We gave them far too many easy shots, so we’re going to have to continue to work on re-establishing a solid defense.  We also just couldn’t keep a handle on the ball tonight.  There’s no excuse for us making 22 turnovers…but the Hokies made an equal number so there was an equal amount of sloppy play on both ends of the court.  Fortunately we got big nights from C Courtland Reese with 29 points, PG Leonard Meliet with 25 points, and reserve PF Winston Minahan with 11 points.  But this was the third straight game in which we haven’t played well.  We have two road games coming up later this week and then finish with home games against Duke and Louisville, so we need to get our game back together and fast.”  When asked about his change to the starting lineup, Aura said, “Darius Hein has been playing exceptionally well in practice so he earned the start.  While Darius is more accustomed to playing PF, he handles the SF position well and gives us more rebounding strength.  I was satisfied with how he played, so I think he deserves another start.  Then we’ll reevaluate to determine our best starting lineup for the remainder of our season.”

  11. Posted

    Feb. 13, 2029: North Carolina State Wolfpack (15-10, 7-7) vs #2 ranked Boston College Eagles (21-4, 12-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans

    We’re finally back home after 3 straight road games.  Two strong wins and a tough loss, but Pittsburgh played great against us and uncharacteristically our defense cracked against the Panthers.  So now it’s time to get back on track tonight.  We barely edged in overtime when we played them earlier this season on their court. 

    We got off to a good start.  We hit 8 of our first 13 shots while forcing the Wolfpack to make 7 turnovers and took an 18-9 lead after 6-1/2 minutes of play.  We expanded our lead to 28-14 but then sort of stumbled our way through the rest of the half.  At the break we led 48-37.  We outshot NC State 57% to 40%.  C Courtland Reese led our offense with 11 points.

    We got sloppy in the 2nd half and the Wolfpack pulled tied the game at 65-65 with 9:45 to play and then when ahead by 3 with 8-1/2 minutes to go.  There were several lead changes after that. With 2 minutes to go we led 81-79 but C Courtland Reese fouled out. We scored 4 points in the next 50 seconds.  From that point it came down to us scoring on free throws and the Wolfpack hitting FG’s.  We maintained the lead and won by a very narrow score of 94-89.  NC State hit 13 of 25 from beyond the arc, but we knocked down 52% of our FG’s. 

    The Wolfpack had 6 players score in double figures.  Our leading scorers were PG Leonard Meliet with 20 points, C Courtland Reese scoring 18, SG Corey Graham with 15 points, and C Jason Caldwell who added 11 points. 

    Coach Aura blasted the team due to our second straight game with lax defense.

    The pollsters apparently were equally unimpressed with our defense.  We dropped back down to #3 in the polls and Duke, which is now ½ game behind us in the ACC standings, replaced us at #2.

  12. Posted

    Good News, Bad News

    3rd Assistant Coach Rob Rowland           

    First the good news: PG Leonard Meliet was named as a semi-finalist for the Norton Award.  Quite an accomplishment.  But well-earned indeed!

    On a different good news note: we’re #4 in the Coaches Poll, but now are #2 in the Media Poll…hard to explain the difference, but #2 is as high as we’ve ever been.  We also have the best NET ranking of any Division I team.

    Now the bad news: PF Mike Braxton didn’t get to play in our loss to Pittsburgh and then mouthed off to teammates about Coach Aura not liking him and that he should be playing instead of Danny Toliver.  Pure BS.  Unfortunately this isn’t the first time Mike’s done this.  Coach Aura took him aside and really chewed him out.  Surprisingly, Mike apologized and said he’d work on doing better.  All we can do is hope he will improve.  His comments aren’t going over well with most of the rest of the team, and he’s not been close with any of we coaches either. We’ve tried a variety of things to improve his mood and relationship with the team and us…other than giving him the starting job and lots of playing time he wants…but nothing has clicked.

     So even though I think he has it in him to be an excellent player in the future, I really think he’s going to transfer away from us after this season so it’s won’t be for us.

  13. Posted

    Feb. 10, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (21-3, 12-1) vs Pittsburgh Panthers (12-11, 6-7) at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

    Vince Ferris, Pittsburgh Panthers fan

    Great start!  The Panthers score the first 6 points.  The Eagles don’t look so good, 3 turnovers already.  Damn!  The refs just called the second foul on our start PG, Shahar Benson…but we’re still ahead 12-8.  That’s it!...2 fouls on BC’s PG Meliet…evens things up a bit…and we’re on top 25-19 at the midpoint of the half.  Both teams are really knocking down their shots.  Not good…BC captures the lead at 30-29 with 8 minutes to go.  We fall behind by 4 but come back to get retake the lead at 36-35.  We got the Eagles on the run…our guys are playing tough…we’re up by 7 with 3-1/2 minutes remaining in the half.  Yeah!  The half ends and it’s Pittsburgh-52, Boston College-43.  The Panthers hit 68% of their FG’s and 60% of their 3’s…really kicking butt!  SG Leroy Killion drilled in 16 points for the Panthers.  BC’s C Courtland Reese had 10 points and 5 boards…heard he was good and he is.

    BC scores the first 8 points of the 2nd half to cut the lead to a single point.  But the Panthers then go on a 6-0 run to reestablish a decent lead.  Killion can’t be stopped, he’s now got 20 points.  This is a helluva game…score is 60-59 in favor of Pittsburgh with 13:19 to play.  Then BC goes ahead by a point, but the Panthers strike right back to go up by 4.  Refs are doing a number on our boys…helping the Eagles to go up 70-67 with just 10 minutes to go.  But the Panthers don’t quit, they score the next 10 points.  This is really a back-and-forth game though.  BC goes back on top 83-82 with 2:15 remaining.  Pittsburgh ties the game a minute later.  We hit a one of two free throws with 44 seconds on the clock putting the Panthers ahead 87-86.  The Eagles call a time out with 14 seconds to go.  They set up a play but a 15 foot jumper goes off the front of the rim and Pittsburgh holds on to take down Boston College 87-86.  Fantastic game.  Every time BC took a small lead, Pittsburgh came back.  The Panthers outshot the Eagles 59% to 54% and held a 29-26 rebounding advantage.

    The Eagles had 4 players in double figures (C Jason Caldwell-16, SF Keith Kolder-15, C Courtland Reese-14, and SG Corey Graham-14), but SG Leroy Killion scored 27 points to lead the Panthers to victory. 

  14. Posted

    At home with Fred (F) and Janeka (J) Aura:

    J: Fred, I know you’re reviewing game films for your next game, but I need to talk to you about Malik.

    F: Malik?  Malik’s doing great.  His grades are good. He’s starring on his high school basketball team. What more could you ask?

    J: I won’t argue about his academics and basketball, but…

    F: But?

    J: But…I’m noticing some big changes in his attitude.  He’s not willing to talk and is sullen around the house.

    F: Hey, he’s a teenager.

    J: Well, you’re not around the house all that much since it’s basketball season and so I think you’re maybe not as tuned in about Malik as you think you are.  He’s spending all his spare time with Travis Buchanan.

    F: Travis?  He’s Malik’s teammate, so Malik spending time with him isn’t all that unusual.  Besides we recruited Travis.  I like him.  He had a good campus visit and I did a home visit.  Both his parents went to Boston College and they really wanted him to play for the Eagles.  And we were right at the top of Travis’ schools of interest.  Unfortunately, our primary focus wasn’t on interior players this year.  So when we got commitments from our two highly ranked recruits, I just wasn’t able to offer Travis a scholarship.  I think he and his parents were very disappointed.  But he ended up accepting a scholarship to Georgia Tech, so he’s in good shape.  The only bad thing is that we’ll have to go up against him on the court the next four years.

    J: You may like Travis, but I’m not so sure about him. I’m just getting a funny feeling about him.  I really wish Malik wasn’t so tied into Travis.

    F: Honey, I think you’re overly concerned.  Let’s just give Malik a little space and see how things go.

    J: I’m sorry, Fred, but I just can’t close my eyes to things like you can.  I’m not pressing Malik, but I’m going to stay very attuned to what’s going on with him, and I think you’d do well to do the same.  Sometimes your family has to take priority over your team.

  15. Posted

    Feb. 8, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College (20-3, 11-1) vs North Carolina Tar Heels (15-8, 8-4) at Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC

    Boston Herald

    EAGLES OFFENSE CLICKS

    The Boston College Eagles played their second game on the road in three days when they met North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  The question of whether the Eagles might be worn down was quickly answered.  Boston College spurted out to 14-1 and 21-5 leads.   They held onto a double digit lead through the rest of the first half.  For a second straight game the Eagles had hot hands.  They hit 63% of their shots to lead 50-37 at the end of the first half.

    North Carolina trimmed the lead to 9 points early in the second half.  But Boston College would not let the Tar Heels get any closer.  They pulled away again and held on to win 92-81 to extend their win streak to 11 games.  The Eagles hit 53% of their field goal attempts.

    PG Leonard Meliet poured in 25 points.  C Courtland Reese had his second straight double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds.  SG Corey Graham hit for 18 points, while reserve SF Keith Kolder added 10 points.

    The win maintained Boston College’s two game lead over 2nd place Duke in the ACC standings.

  16. Posted

    Feb. 6, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (19-8, 10-1) vs Virginia Cavaliers (10-11, 6-6) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA

    PF Danny Toliver

    Coach Fed has me moving over occasionally to center during games lately when Courtland Reese takes a breather.  I guess it’s a way of not cutting my playing time as Coach Fed increases Winston Minahan’s and Mike Braxton’s playing time.  It’s all OK by me. 

    This is the only time we’re scheduled to play Virginia this season, so even though it’s an away game for us, we want to be sure we come away with a win.  I’ll be going up against Seth Wallace, the Cavalier’s leading scorer.

    We led 9-2 at the first media timeout.  Coach Fed wanted us to keep the defensive pressure on.  The refs were calling me and others tight on our defense on Wallace.  So that forced us to back off some which allowed him to get some easy scores.  But we were sizzling on offense, particularly Leonard (Meliet) and Michael (Millford).  With 5 minutes left in the half, we were on top 39-21…we’d hit about 2/3 of our shots at that point.  We finished the half with a 46-28 lead, outshooting Virginia 61% to 36%.  We also totally dominated the boards (21-8).  Millford scored 15 points and Meliet had 13.  Wallace had a heckuva half, scoring 12 points.  We need to put the clamps on him in the second half.

    The refs tagged Leonard Meliet with his 3rd foul at the 18:34 mark.  Virginia found the range in the 2nd half and cut the lead to 10 with 7-1/2 minutes remaining.  Their home crowd was going wild.  Coach Fed got on us during a time out.  That relit our fire both offensively and defensively, and we quickly pulled away, silenced the crowd, and breezed to a 90-68 shellacking of the Cavaliers.  We hit 57% of our FG’s, 47% of our 3’s, and out-rebounded Virginia 37-20.  This extended our win streak to 10 games.

    SF Michael Millford had a big game with 19 points.  C Courtland Reese had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, PG Leonard Meliet hit for 15 points, SG Corey Graham scored 10, and I had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  And I was instrumental in holding Virginia’s Seth Wallace to just 2 points in the second half.  I got a nice pat on the back for that.

    SG Adrian Moss sustained a sprained toe in the game.  He’s likely to miss our next two or three games.  He’s really ticked off since he’s been wanting to play more minutes.  He tried talking the trainers and coaches into letting him play, but they’ve been adamant.  All of us hate it when we get injured, but for a freshman sub, it’s an even more demoralizing event.  When I was a freshman at Georgia Tech before transferring to Boston College, I injured my shoulder and hid the severity so I could continue starting.  I paid a price for that by having the injury linger and also by having some sub-standard games.  I’m not one of the most friendly guys on the Eagles roster, but Adrian is and he’s a really good guy.  So I sorta surprised myself by empathizing with him and letting him know he’s got a lot of talent with a big upside potential so he’ll get a lot more playing time in future seasons.  I’m not sure if that means I’m maturing or is just an aberration for me.

  17. Posted

    Feb. 1, 2029: #12 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-6, 7-4) vs #4 ranked Boston College Eagles (18-3, 9-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds

    Notre Dame is solid defensively, giving up just 64.5 ppg (17th best in the nation)…and their 6.0 bpg is 11th best in the country.  They’re a little bit better shooting team that us and score best from the perimeter, but we’re a stronger rebounding team.  So we need to control the boards, force turnovers, and keep them from getting uncontested shots. Notre Dame has been streaky this season.  Right now they’ve won their last 4 games.  We need to win this since we’re going on a 3-game road trip next. 

    *For the 2nd straight game, SG Corey Graham picked up 2 quick fouls. 

    *Defense clamped down on Notre Dame and Eagles moved out to a 13 point lead midway through the half.  PG Leonard Meliet was on fire.

    *Let Notre Dame close the gap late in the half.

    *At the break, up 39-32.  Meliet scored 14 in the half.

    *Game tied at 44-44 with 16-1/2 minutes to go.

    *BC reasserted control by going on 17-4 run.

    *Then late in the game, BC hit shots from all over the court to put game totally out of reach and trample the Fighting Irish by a final score of 79-58. 

    *Outshot Notre Dame 45% to 36% on FG’s and 48% to 29% on 3’s.  Forced Fighting Irish to turn the ball over 20 times.

    *PG Leonard Meliet had another high scoring game with 29 points.  SF Michael Millford and C Courtland Reese each scored 12.  The Eagles’ bench again got a lot of playing time.

    *Top scorers for the Eagles this season are: PG Leonard Meliet at 16.7 ppg; SG Corey Graham at 14.7 ppg; and Courtland Reese at 14.2 ppg.  Meliet has scored over 20 points in the past 4 games during which he’s averaged 24.5 ppg.  Top rebounders this season are Reese with 8.5 rpg and PF Danny Toliver with 5.9 rpg.  Tops in assists are Meliet with 6.5 apg and Graham with 2.4 apg.

    *PG Leonard Meliet was named the ACC’s Player of the Week for the 2nd straight week.

    *Boston College now has won 9 games in a row.  Their 10-1 ACC record has them 2 games ahead of North Carolina and Duke which are tied for 2nd place.

    *Boston College edged up another notch to 3rd in the Media Poll…finally one notch ahead of Duke.  In the Coaches Poll Duke remains 3rd and BC is 4th.

  18. Posted

    2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

    While neither of our two recruits this season have set the world on fire in the classroom, both Bobby Grannum and Maynard Gardner did well on their SAT’s, scoring well above the minimum required here at Boston College.  So I think they're both smart kids...but just not focused on that much on their high school classes.  It was a relief to get the SAT scores notification. 

    We have no further scholarships to offer.  But we’re maintaining a small amount of money in our recruiting budget and continuing to communicate with a few available recruits just in case one of our players opts to declare early for the pros this spring and we need/want to try to land a last minute recruit.

  19. Posted

    Boston College Chronicle

    By Kinsey Ramsey

    MELIET ADVANCES

    Boston College Eagles PG Leonard was named a quarterfinalist for this season’s Norton Award.  The award recognizes not only excellence on the court but also outstanding effort in the classroom and within the community.  Coach Frederick Aura praised Meliet saying, “Leonard has been a leader on the team.  After playing at SF last season as a freshman, he moved to his natural position at the point this season and is leading our team in scoring with 16.1 ppg and assists with 6.5 apg.  He’s also 3rd on the team in rebounding.  He volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA, coaching and mentoring kids.”

    Meliet was also named this week’s ACC Player of the Week.  In the Eagles’ two games this week, he scored 48 points and had 9 rebounds, 19 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  Coach Aura said, “Leonard has been on a tear lately.  He’s averaged over 20 ppg in our last 5 games and had his first double-double with 22 points and 12 assists in our game this past week against Syracuse.”

  20. Posted

    Jan. 27, 2029: Syracuse Orange (10-9, 2-7) vs #5 ranked Boston College Eagles (17-3, 8-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    1st Assistant Coach David Woodruff (practice)

    Earlier this season we dominated Syracuse inside (+14 in rebounds, +20 in points in the paint and with C Courtland Reese scoring 23 points) and whipped them soundly.  Because of that, our team being on a 7-game win streak and Syracuse losing 7 straight before edging North Carolina State a couple days ago, we coaches have constantly been chiding the team to dig down in practice and not go into this game with overconfidence.   We thought about starting Mike Braxton at PF tonight to try to begin turning around his deteriorating relationship with both his teammates and the coaches, but with the Orange having a strong player like George Plowman at PF, that just doesn’t make sense.

    SG Corey Graham was charged 2 fouls in the first minute of the game.  It took us 2-3/4 minutes to score.  Two minutes later we moved in the lead. Even though we shot poorly, we expanded our lead to 14 points before settling for a 38-28 halftime advantage.  PG Leonard Meliet led us offensively with 12 points. 

    Corey Graham came onto the court with a chip on his shoulder after foul trouble limited him to a single minute of play in the first half.  He responded by scoring 5 points and handing out an assist to put us on top 45-28.  He scored 12 points in the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half.  With 12 minutes to play our lead ballooned to 59-38.  Again we controlled the game inside and our lead grew to 28.  We played our entire bench extensively and came away with a 74-55 pounding of the Orange. 

    Scoring in double figures for us were: PG Leonard Meliet—22 points (he also had 12 assists for a double-double); SG Corey Graham—14 points (all in the 2nd half); and SF Darius Hein—10 points.  We got Mike Braxton in for 14 minutes…the longest he’s played this season.

  21. Posted · Edited by PointGuard

    At home with Dominick and Stella Consignalli:

    D : Stella, that SOB Dwight Graham got all over case again today.

    S: Again? What's his problem THIS time, Dom?

    D : Well, as you know I recently added bowls of clam chowder at our food stands. I guess some of the fans spilled a little of it. So the cleaning crew had some extra clean up.

    S: That's a high profit margin item for the Forum, isn't it?

    D : Hell yes it is! Graham's always wanting us to take in more money to make him look good. But every time I add a good item, he has a freakin' heart attack about something with it. Last time it was chicken wings, this time chowder. Hell, this is Boston...fans here loved both the wings and chowder and we hauled in some big bucks because of them. If the cleaning crew needs to work a bit harder on cleanup, so what? We still come out way ahead in the cash ledger. Next thing Graham will come down hard on me about the roast beef sandwich I added to the menu this last game. Maybe he's a vegan and will be all over my case about adding beef to the menu rather than trays of carrots and celery. Or maybe he'll be upset that we didn't use gluten-free rolls.

    S: Too bad you have to work for such a stronzo.

    D : Stella, watch your language.

    S: Well, you shouldn't have to take his, his...well, you know what I mean.

    D : (Laughing)

    S: Maybe you should get a position over at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. And then let me go in and tell Graham he can kiss your...

    D : STELLA!!!

  22. Posted

     

    Posting by Wayne23 in the Wolverine Studios forums:

    Email from the desk of Conte Forum Manager of Operations Dwight Graham:
     

    Dominick: If you EVER even THINK of serving clam chowder again I'll have you reassigned to cleaning toilets. We had to hose down the entire arena. It was worse than the damn chicken wings! Probably a good idea if you don't show your face around here for a couple of days. I'm THAT angry! THINK!
    Dwight

  23. Posted

    Jan. 25, 2029: Clemson Tigers (13-5, 5-3) vs #5 ranked Boston College Eagles (16-3, 7-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

    Dominick Consignalli

    I’m the Manager of Concessions at Conte Forum.  I never get to actually watch the Eagles play since I want to keep track of what my employees are doing at the stands and the portable food carts in the concourses.  But tonight I have headphones and am trying to listen to at least parts of the game since my daughter decided to attend Clemson and she’ll be asking me questions about the game when I talk to her tomorrow.  We got lots of colleges throughout New England so I kept telling her there was no need to go so far away from home but did she listen to me?  Hell no.

    We have typical arena fare for the fans: hotdogs and sausages, subs, pizza, clam chowder, pretzels, bags of chips, popcorn candy, cotton candy, ice cream bars, apple slices, veggies with dip, beer, soda, hot cocoa, bottled water, coffee.

    I tried chicken wings earlier this season...they were a hit but not with the forum’s janitorial department which didn’t like having chicken bones strewn throughout the stands after the game.  But tonight I’ve added an awesome roast beef sandwich tonight which I think will be a hit with the fans.

    Fortunately the team has been winning most of its home games the past few years.  If they are losing, sales are way down.  Sales go up when the team’s whipping up on an opponent.  They’re also better if it’s raining since the fans don’t go outside during halftime.  Tonight it’s cold and snowy outside, so we’ll sell a lot more hot cocoa and coffee.

    The announcers on the radio just said the Eagles are riding a 6-game win streak.  My daughter’s been telling me Clemson is good and is going to beat BC.  We’ll see.

    I was able to listen to most of the first 4 minutes of the game.  The Eagles hit their first 3 shots to go up 6-0 but Clemson came back to knot the score at 8-8.  Then there was a minor equipment emergency in one of the food booths that I had to attend to.  The next time I was able to tune back into he game, the Tigers were up 25-16 and there was about 10 minutes to go in the half.  Maybe my daughter was right.  The Eagles fell behind by 11 before rallying late in the half to tie the game in the final minute.  The score was 40-40 at the half.  Top scorer for BC was PG Leonard Meliet with 12 points, but Clemson’s SG Darius Wilson knocked down 14 points.

    The comeback by BC really helped stimulate food sales during the intermission.  And the roast beef sandwiches were doing great.

    When I was able to get back to the game the Eagles had scored the first 10 points of the 2nd half to go up 50-40 with 17-1/2 minutes to play.  The announcers were saying that Coach Aura must have kicked his guys in their collective butts during halftime about playing better defense.  It took Clemson almost 4 minutes to get their first score the of the 2nd half.   One of my employees wanted to discuss scheduling.  The next time I caught the game, the score was 64-54 in favor of BC and there were 10-1/2 minutes to go.  The announcer was commenting about the guards on both teams were dueling it out.  Clemson edged to within 5 points but Leonard Meliet hit a couple of big 3’s.  With 4 minutes remaining, BC was ahead 82-75.  The Eagles held on to score an 91-79 triumph. 

    Boston College was led by PG Leonard Meliet’s 26 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.  SG Corey Graham tossed in 18 points.  C Courtland Reese added 14 and PF Danny Toliver had 9 points and 10 rebounds.  Clemson’s two starting guards combined to score 32 points.

  24. Posted

    Coach Fred Aura

    Sam Dickens transferred to Wisconsin after a successful freshman season with us.  After sitting out last year, he became eligible for this season.  But Wisconsin signed the #1 ranked recruit last year who’s a SF and is averaging 13.1 ppg and 10.4 rpg.  That’s left little playing time for Sam.  He’s been on the court just 9.7 mpg and has averaged 3.9 ppg and 1.8 rpg in a very limited role.  He did start once and scored 13 points and had 4 rebounds and 2 steals in that game.  Unfortunately Sam injured his foot in mid-December and then broke a finger two weeks later.  It's not expected he will return for action for 2-3 more weeks.

    I’m concerned that freshman Mike Braxton may transfer from us after this season.  Mike was a highly ranked recruit.  But we felt he needed development before he was ready to play much.  It’s become obvious that playing time is a major concern of his.  In fact, he feels he should be starting, but both Danny Toliver and Winston Minahan are playing much better at PF than is Mike. We’ve increased his minutes the past 4 games but he’s not done that well thus far.  He definitely has the tools to develop into a very good player.  His attitude, though, has become very negative…both toward me and his teammates.  That’s a formula for transferring.

  25. Posted

    Boston College Chronicle

    By Kinsey Ramsey

    WHAT’S UP WITH THE POLL VOTERS?

    Boston College has a 16-3 season record. Duke’s season record is 15-5.  BC is 7-1 in the ACC and Duke is 5-3.  Boston College has the best NET ranking and Duke’s NET ranking is 13th best in the country.  The Eagles beat the Blue Devils by 8 points on Dukes OWN court. 

    The Media Poll and the Coaches Poll both have Duke at #4 and Boston College at #5.  What the ___?  We’ve been duked!  We want a recount!  It seems like it’s time to get a new set of voters in the polls who objectively look at the evidence.