BC gets 8th win in 9 games against South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Joe Trapani had a season-high 23 points as Boston College won for the eighth time in nine games with an 85-70 victory at South Carolina on Saturday.

Trapani had three of his team's 13 3-pointers. The 6-foot-8 senior also had his way underneath with the Gamecocks' young lineup, continually outracing them for easy buckets.

Boston College (11-3) came South prepped for a sturdy test against a Southeastern Conference opponent. Instead, the Eagles' experienced lineup was no match for South Carolina (8-3), which started three freshman and a sophomore.

Biko Paris added 18 points and Corey Raji had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Boston College.

Bruce Ellington had 21 points to lead South Carolina, which has lost three of its past four games.

The Eagles were picked 10th in the Atlantic Coast Conference, yet already own a conference win at Maryland and figure to carry a lot of momentum into league play when it resumes next week.

The way Boston College played against South Carolina won't hurt.

The Eagles looked to rebound from their first loss in more than a month, a 67-65 defeat at Rhode Island on Wednesday which ended their seven-game win streak.

BC, third in ACC 3-point shooting, got it going from the outside early to take control in its first trip to Colonial Life Arena.

Paris went 3 of 3 from behind the arc in the game's first 5 minutes to put the Eagles up 14-10.

The Gamecocks rallied to move in front 18-16 on Ramon Galloway's 3 with 9:34 to go.

That's when Boston College's experience took over. The Eagles, who started three seniors and a junior to South Carolina's three freshman and a sophomore, began a 20-6 charge that included four of the team's nine first-half 3s.

Trapani opened the run with a 3, then Reggie Jackson followed with a long-range basket. Trapani closed the surge with a open 3-pointer that put the Eagles ahead 36-24.

And they didn't stop there. Danny Rubin's second 3-pointer, a bucket by Raji and Trapani's foul shot grew the lead to 44-27 in the half's final minute.

Galloway, though, had a 3-pointer and a foul shot to cut into BC's margin.

Boston College steadily grew its lead over the second half as Trapani and Jackson led the way.

South Carolina got little help from its most experienced starter, 6-9 senior Sam Muldrow, who was 0 of 6 in 18 minutes.

The Eagles have one more contest, Wednesday with city rival Harvard, before returning to ACC play next Saturday against Georgia Tech.

The Gamecocks also start SEC play that day, hosting No. 24 Vanderbilt.