MBB beats Notre Dame, but another disappointing season ends
There were some good vibes around Conte Forum for a little while on Saturday.
The Eagles took down rival Notre Dame 77-69, briefly keeping their dim ACC tournament hopes alive with the victory on Senior Day.
Fred Payne once again led the offense with 24 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists. Chase Forte had 14 points, six boards, four assists and two steals. Jayden Hastings added 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Boden kapke had 11 points and seven boards.
“It feels great coming out here and getting a win, especially against a rival,” Forte said postgame. “Great competition with Notre Dame, they’re a really good team. To come out here and get a win on Senior Night after an up-and-down year is great.”
But, by about 6:30 on Saturday night, Pitt beat Syracuse in overtime, officially eliminating BC from the 15-team conference tournament.
The Eagles’ dismal season wrapped up at 11-20 overall, 4-14 in the ACC. For the second straight year, the Eagles miss a tournament that’s almost impossible to miss, with all but three of the teams in the ACC getting in. The long-standing NCAA tournament drought for the program is now at 17 years and counting.
The only question remaining is how much further into the basement does BC’s men’s basketball program have to sink in order for a change to be made? Now, don’t get me wrong, Earl Grant is an extremely nice guy and has never not once been an issue to deal with from a media relationship standpoint. However, if missing the ACC tournament back-to-back years – ending basketball season the first week of March in Chestnut Hill – isn’t a wake up call for decision makers, nothing will be.
“It means a lot. He teaches you how to persevere, to keep fighting,” Forte added when asked about what it meant to play for Grant as a now departing senior. “That’s kind of our whole motto, ‘gritty, not pretty.’ As you guys know…I came from walk on to Power 5, so just learning from him how to show up every day, roll your sleeves up, get to work, it means a lot, not only on the court, but also off the court too.”
“I feel like it means the most to me because he was like the only coach out of high school that came to my gym every other day,” added Payne. “Me and him has a special personal relationship. He can talk to me crazy, I can kind of talk to him a little bit how I want because we’ve been here a couple years. It’s special because he really develops you defensively wise more than offense…on the defensive part you’re going to see us go at it all year long.”
To his credit, Grant absolutely has had the support of his players throughout the year. BC does deserve credit for continuing to play hard down the stretch, but it simply shouldn’t change the way the results tell the story of the program at this point.
