Ernest Shelton scored 17 points and Zak Smrekar added 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Boston College to a 67-55 victory over New Hampshire on Sunday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Boston College received 14 points, six rebounds and six assists from Armoni Zeigler, and a 10-point performance from Jacob Furphy.
The Eagles (4-0) led by three points at halftime, and outscored the Wildcats 36-27 in the second half. They won despite shooting just 38.7% from the floor.
Boston College scored 19 points off 17 New Hampshire turnovers. The Eagles also had a 32-22 advantage in points in the paint.
Drew McKenna collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Hampshire (3-2). Tyler Bike had seven points and six assists for the Wildcats, and Giannos Xanthopoulos scored eight points.
BC played without leading scorer Money Williams, who sustained an injury during the second half of Tuesday’s victory over Maryland Eastern Shore. Williams, who is averaging 21.7 points per game, is listed as day to day.
New Hampshire made five of its first seven field goal attempts and sprinted to a 13-2 lead. BC had its first lead after a three-point play by Smrekar put the Eagles up 17-16 with 8:13 left in the first half.
New Hampshire went 9:52 without making a field goal, but ended the drought on Xanthopoulos’ jumper at the 6:28 mark. A layup by McKenna tied the game, 23-23, with 3:19 left in the half, before the Eagles took a 31-28 lead into halftime.
A Brandon Benjamin layup capped a 9-0 run and put the Eagles up 47-35 with 13:28 to play. BC stretched its lead to 58-45 on a Furphy 3-pointer with 8:38 to play.
The Eagles had a 15-point lead — their largest lead of the game — after Zeigler hit a layup with 1:14 left.
–Field Level Media
