Boston College holds off Penn State 73-61
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Freshman Olivier Hanlan scored 22 points and Boston College withstood a furious late-game rally to beat Penn State 73-61 on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Eagles (3-4) led by 20 with 6:21 left before an 18-1 run got Penn State (3-3) within 60-57 with 3:05 left, led by Jermaine Marshall (25 points) and D.J. Newbill (22).
Hanlan’s three-point play on a jumper in the lane ended the spurt, and Andrew Van Nest’s open layup gave Boston College a 65-59 lead with 1:52 left.
Joe Rahon added 14 points for Boston College, which built its big lead off a run of 3-point shooting in the second half and defensive lapses in the lane by Penn State.
But the young Eagles, who start three sophomores and two freshmen, nearly let it slip away down the stretch.
Hanlan finished 15 of 19 from the foul line.
Many of those clutch shots came in the waning minutes to help Boston College hold off the Nittany Lions.
Marshall and Newbill led the way, scoring all of Penn State’s points during the late run by forcing turnovers and attacking the basket. Marshall’s 3 with 3:39 riled up the Jordan Center crowd before Newbill went 1 of 2 from the line to get within three.
But Hanlan and Rahon — both freshmen — settled Boston College down at the line, and Penn State lost its best offensive weapon after Newbill fouled out with 1:11 left trailing by six.
Penn State played its second game without leading scorer and point guard Tim Frazier, who is out for the year with a left Achilles injury. Until the late spurt, the Nittany Lions looked out of rhythm with the ball, especially in a first half with 10 turnovers.
The Eagles were stunned in their last outing, 56-54, at home by Bryant — a program that had just moved up to Division I four years ago and had lost its four previous meetings to Boston College.
They found the perfect opponent to get over that upset in Penn State.
Hanlan, Rahon and Lonnie Jackson hit 3s during a second-half run that helped turn a five-point lead into the 20-point bulge. With good ball movement, Boston College also took advantage of subpar play by Penn State’s big men. Forward Ross Travis was a lone bright spot in the frontcourt with 13 rebounds.
Six-foot-10 forward Van Nest broke free in the lane for a 3-point play on a dunk and a late foul by forward Sasa Borovnjak to start the second-half run for Boston College. Van Nest finished with nine points off the bench.
Frazier could only watch helplessly from the sideline as the disjointed Nittany Lions struggled from the field. After looking good in its first game without Frazier, a 60-57 win last week over Bucknell, Penn State took a step back.
Newbill’s high-arcing 3 just before the buzzer got Penn State within 31-24 at the half.