NCAA News Wire
UMass 71, Boston College 62
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
A hot start to the second half propelled the Massachusetts Minutemen to a 71-62 win over Boston College on Sunday as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer tripleheader at the TD Garden in Boston.
UMass senior forward Maxie Esho poured in a career-high 23 points and junior guard Derrick Gordon scored all 15 of his points in the second half.
The Minutemen (2-0) beat Boston College (1-1) for the third straight time despite shooting 4-of-15 on field goals in the first half — including just two made field goals in the first 17 minutes of the game.
Boston College took control early by virtue of a 14-0 run, building a 21-8 lead, but despite the Minutemen’s shooting woes the Eagles held a 32-24 advantage at the half. Gordon and Trey Davis scored layups off steals in the first 30 seconds of the second stanza, sparking a 15-4 run by UMass to open the second half and seize the lead for good.
Olivier Hanlan, the Eagles’ star junior guard, led BC with 18 points but only three came in the second half. He also had two assists against six turnovers. Guard Aaron Brown, the graduate transfer by way of Southern Miss, added 12 points.
Senior center Cady Lalanne added 11 points and a game-high 10 boards for UMass. Esho finished a board shy of a double-double.
