Trae Golden lifts Georgia Tech to 68-60 win against Boston College
Jan 21, 2014; Chestnut Hill, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles forward Ryan Anderson (12) is guarded by Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Trae Golden (23) and forward Quinton Stephens (12) during the first half at Silvio O. Conte Forum. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets used another nice performance from Trae Golden to avoid a late-game collapse to the Boston College Eagles and win 68-60.
The Jackets got off to a great start in this one, scoring the first bucket of the game and taking that to an 18-5 run within the first six minutes of the half. They would continue to build on that lead throughout the first half and never look back throughout the entire game, although Boston College did put together a solid run in the second half to make it close.
At the end of the first half, Georgia Tech had a solid 15-point lead, ahead of the Eagles 42-27. The Jackets could have gone on to pummel Boston College and prove their doubters (specifically Vegas, who pegged the Jackets as underdogs in this one) that they were a much better team than the Eagles… but that wasn’t the case.
With 17 minutes left in the second half and Boston College down 50-35, Lonnie Jackson hit a 3-point jumper that sparked the Eagles to a 10-0 run to bring the team within eight points. After that, the Jackets kept letting the Eagles get closer and closer until they had brought the deficit to just one point, with under three minutes left. With the score 57-56 and the Jackets facing an embarrassing meltdown Trae Golden hit a jumper and after Tech stopped Boston College on the other end, Golden came dropped three-points to really put the win in the bag.
After that, the Eagles wouldn’t get closer than withing four points of Georgia Tech. Yet again, Golden proved to be the man for this team, leading all players in scoring with 24 points and locking the game up down the stretch. It’s pretty scary to think about what they would do without him on the court every night. He was 6-14 from the floor, 4-8 from behind the arc and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
As a team, the Jackets were extremely efficient shooting the ball. The ended the game with a 52.1 percent field goal percentage, including an impressive 53.3 percent from 3-point land. Chris Bolden and Corey Heyward helped Golden in that area, going 3-3 and 1-1 from deep respectively.
While this is a good win for Georgia Tech, it really is a shame they weren’t able to cruise the entire night. Boston College is one of the two worst teams in the conference and if it wasn’t for Trae Golden’s late game shooting, the Jackets could be tied with Virginia Tech for the most conference losses instead of the Eagles.