Everything Donald Hand Jr. & Fred Payne said after OT win vs. Syracuse
It took a game-tying three pointer from Donald Hand Jr. with seven seconds left and then overtime, but BC finally got its first ACC win on Saturday afternoon.
Over 8,000 fans – a lot of them wearing Orange – were in Conte Forum for the 81-73 win. The Eagles are now 8-10 on the year and 1-4 in the ACC.
This was a big one for many reasons, but the biggest is that the Eagles hadn’t been able to close out games until this one. After Syracuse missed the front end of a one-and-one up 64-61, BC got the rebound. Hand Jr. buried the game-tying three with seven seconds on the clock and the teams headed to OT.
A thunderous dunk from Aidan Shaw and a Chase Forte layup quickly put BC ahead in the extra frame and they never looked back. Jayden Hastings‘ 12th rebound of the day kept a possession alive and and he soon finished an alley oop to make it 70-66. A Shaw block turned into a Hand Jr. layup pushed it to six. With some free throws down the stretch, BC iced it.
Hastings finished with 10 and 13 while Fred Payne had a career night with 26 points, six assists and three rebounds. Hand Jr. finished with 12 points. BC still only shot 41%, but forced 18 turnovers and had 11 steals.
The Eagles are back at home Wednesday night hosting Pitt. Before that, here’s everything Hand Jr. and Payne said postgame:
Hand Jr.
On the game-tying three pointer
“That’s the play we call…never mind. I’m not going to go too much into it. But, Coach called a great play and we executed, so…”
On how it felt hitting a big shot when his team needed it
“It’s really a blessing. I just thank God every day. He gives us the opportunity to go out there and play this game. So, it’s truly a blessing to see one of those fall, but I gotta shout out my teammates for trusting me to take that shot.”
On finally finishing off a close game late
“They say real men are built through adversity, so we’ve been through a lot of adversity these past two years. It feels really good to come out on top in one of those games. We’re just super thankful and blessed and just going to keep chopping wood.”
On forcing so many turnovers and if it’s something they thought could be done
“Sure. We practice…we have a team called Green Team, so we really focus in and played the Green Team how we played Syracuse tonight. We forced the Green Team into turnovers in practice and it translated to the game.”
Payne
On the foul to set Syracuse up with a 1-&-1 (ultimately missed, setting up Hand Jr.’s shot)
“We didn’t mean to foul him, but it works out how it works out. You miss, we capitalized off the next possession. So, I mean, good foul.”
On finally finishing off a close game late
“It feels amazing. I ain’t going to sit up here and lie to ya’ll. It feels amazing because we work so hard for it. Obviously, ya’ll know we’ve been losing in overtimes over and over and over, we finally got one. Continue to capitalize off it and just get back in the gym.”
On his career high and what’s been working offensively lately
(Hand Jr. chimed in): “He’s a bucket. There’s nothing to it. He gets buckets. He’s a professional bucket-getter. So, it’s simple. And he works at it too, so, for sure.”
On better three point shooting in the 2nd half
“I build on consistency, so I always say ‘be consistent.’ Like (Hand Jr.) said, I’m always in the gym with him and working in the morning. Obviously, it’s going to fall eventually, so, just keep going in the gym and continue to work. That’s something I pride myself on doing.”
On the crowd and if he ever doubted Hand Jr.’s shot was going in
“Amazing crowd today. Obviously, we know it’s Cuse. Some of our fans came out and we love when the fans come out…This guy (Hand Jr.) down the stretch, I told him I was going to need him and he came through for me. He always comes through for us. Just, things like that, that’s what we need to be consistent.”
On balancing looking for his shot and dishing the ball
“Being a combo guard, I can be a point guard. I played point guard in high school and AAU, so I mean, it kind of comes easy to me, just a natural thing I always do. I can score and pass. That’s one thing I pride myself on, me and Coach McCray, we always try to have our assist to turnover ratio high…six assists, one turnover (personally), I feel like that’s pretty good. That’s one thing I love to see.”
