Big Win Over Big Green in Home Opener

Basketball

Tyler Roche and Reggie Jackson put on a show Friday night as the Eagles won their first game of the year in front of two shiny HD scoreboards and an enthusiastic crowd of 4,227. The Eagles were without three main contributors, two of whom are starters. Rakim Sanders, Corey Raji and Courtney Dunn were all suspended for the opener and Tuesday’s game against St. Francis for “violating team rules.”

The Eagles played well without them. Roche had a career high 30 points as he was 10-12 from the field and 4-5 from behind the arc. The senior from Hooksett, New Hampshire, stood out on a night when someone needed to step up.

Reggie Jackson dropped 16 and showed great promise. The sparkplug played both guard positions and showed great versatility. He displayed the ability to rain threes, take it to the hole, and anything in between.

Jackson and Sanders should have enough athleticism to challenge any ACC guards this year.

Several other guys stepped up as well. Trapani went down early with two fouls and sophomore Dallas Elmore replaced him valiantly. He scored eight first-half points and played exceptional defense. Elmore is known for his defense and he certainly did not disappoint. His glass pinning of a helpless Ivy Leaguer highlighted a good night at Conte.

Trapani eventually found his rhythm in the second half and ended up with 11 points and 6 boards. Josh Southern posted a respectable 9-5 but only played 21 minutes. He showed some signs of encouragement. His fellow big man, Evan Ravenal, contributed 7-4: numbers the Eagles would likely be pleased with out of him this year.

It’s hard to get really emotional about Biko Paris’ play. He did not play great but did not immensely struggle either. He only had six points in 33 minutes and had a less-than desirable 7-6 assist to turnover ratio. He was only 3-3 from the field, but 100% is 100%.

After watching Jackson shine Friday night, it’s reassuring to know that we have great insurance at the point with zero waiting in the wings.
As mentioned, the Eagles have their next warm-up Tuesday night when St. Francis comes to Conte before the Eagles head to the Virgin Islands for Paradise Jam. They will face Purdue and St. Joseph’s there. We should have somewhat of a pulse on the team by then.

The Eagles also face some decent competition when they come back to the mainland. They will play Providence and Michigan following Thanksgiving. BC has its first ACC game December 6 against Miami. They then have a few weeks of non-conference games but the league games get going full bore on January 9th.

So they have another week or so before they start playing legitimate Division I basketball teams. They looked pretty good Friday night, but they were not playing against the Kyle Singlers of the world, albeit he could easily be from New Hampshire.

Thus there are signs of hope for the Eagles, and we should have some clue which direction we are headed in as we are still digesting that sweet potato and pecan pie. The Eagles also will have the opportunity to add to their tournament resume during that time. One must not overlook these early season, out-of-conference games. Joe Lunardi would certainly be impressed if we ran the table on Tim Duncan’s home islands next week. However, first we will hopefully see Peter Rehnquist and Nick Mosakowski another time or two.

Related Articles: