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Williamson’s late burst helps Hawks knock off Boston College in Paradise Jam
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In the first two games of the season Garrett Williamson had made 6 shots from the field while committing 12 turnovers. Despite that, the Hawks started 2-0 with wins over Drexel and Holy Cross.
Down 76-74 with 2:59 left against Boston College on Friday evening, Williamson picked a good time to find his scoring touch. Williamson scored the Hawks last 10 points as they sprung an upset by knocking off Boston College by a score of 84-80 in the first round of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.
The Hawks got off to a good start in the first half, scoring the game’s first 9 points. The Eagles rallied midway through the first half and would take their first lead with just under 7 minutes left in the first half, 26-24. Boston College held the lead for just about the rest of the first half and entered the locker room with a 40-39 edge.
The lead swapped hands several times during a very competitive opening segment of the second half. The Hawks then went on an 8-0 run after the under-12 minute media timeout, with Carl Jones and Charoy Bentley knocking down three-pointers along with Jones notching a pair of free throws to give the Hawks a 66-60 lead with 10:09 remaining.
Boston College would fight back and eventually re-take the lead, going up 74-73 with 4:44 left on the strength of an Evan Ravenel slam dunk. The Eagles would go on and take two separate two point advantages, which the Hawks fought back from each time.
With the Hawks down 76-74, Williamson went to work by driving to the basket for a layup to tie it up at 76. With under 1:20 left, the Eagles had several chances to re-take the lead, as they managed three offensive rebounds during the possession before Darrin Govens finally came away with a rebound to give the Hawks another possession with 43 seconds remaining. Williamson drove to the basket, making another layup while drawing a foul on Paris Biko. Williamson connected on the free throw to give the Hawks a three-point lead with 38 seconds left.
Reggie Jackson made a layup for the Eagles to cut the lead to 79-78 before B.J. Raji fouled Williamson with 27 seconds left. Williamson made a pair of free throws to put the Hawks back up by three. Govens fouled Jackson with 12 seconds left, with Jackson knocking down both free throws. After Williamson was fouled again, he made his way to the free throw line, but only hit one of two from the charity stripe, giving the game some extra late drama.
The Eagles had a good opportunity in the final couple seconds, but Jackson missed a layup attempt while Williamson grabbed the rebound and knocked down the final two free throws to account for the 84-80 final.
Williamson led the Hawks with 18 points, while Govens added 16, as did Jones, who continued his very impressive start to his freshman campaign. Bentley had 7 points in another notable contribution off of the bench, while freshman Carl Baptiste saw 15 minutes of action and had 4 points along with 5 boards.
Joe Trapani led the Eagles with 20 points, with Jackson adding 18 points along with 11 rebounds, while Raji managed 11 points. Boston College had the edge on the boards 46-38, and also played a clean overall game, only committing 5 turnovers. However, the Eagles only shot 36% from the field, while the Hawks shot 47% from the field, including 10-21 from three-point range.
The Hawks advance to face #7 ranked Purdue in the winner’s bracket on Sunday at 8:30 Eastern time. The Boilermakers knocked off South Dakota State 74-63 in the final action of the day at the Paradise Jam on Friday. This could be a good time as any to face the Boilermakers with their starting point guard Lewis Jackson indefinitely sidelined with injury.
No matter the result against Purdue, the Hawks 3-0 start is a good sign for a program that was predicted by many (myself included) to have a difficult year. The game can be seen on television on Fox College Sports Pacific, which is channel 722 on Comcast systems, and channel 304 for those with Verizon FIOS.
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