Jackson, Paris lead BC over Bucknell 84-80
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reggie Jackson scored 14 of his 22 points in the closing 11:13 and Biko Paris had a key 3-pointer late to lift Boston College to its seventh straight win, 84-80 over Bucknell on Wednesday night.
Joe Trapani and Josh Southern each had 16 points and six rebounds for the Eagles (10-2). Paris had 14 points and seven assists.
Bryson Johnson led Bucknell (6-7) with 25 points, hitting 7 of 12 on 3-point attempts. The Bison, who had a four-game winning streak snapped, were 15 of 29 behind the arc.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Paris' 3 from the top of the key snapped a 76-76 tie with 2:18 left. Darryl Shazier's layup with 48 seconds to go brought Bucknell within two points, 80-78, but Southern's layup gave Boston College an 82-78 edge with 16 seconds left.
Paris sealed it with two free throws with 6.1 seconds to play.
Mike Muscala had 14 points for Bucknell and Bryan Cohen had 13.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Eagles had fought back from 16-point first-half deficit to grab a 65-62 edge on Paris' 3 from the left wing with 8:41 to play. It was just BC's third lead of the game — all of them coming briefly in the second half.
Jackson's third 3-pointer of the second half pushed BC ahead 70-66 with 5:23 left. The Eagles increased it to 76-70 on Southern's two free throws with 3:29 left, but Bucknell came right back.
Johnson and Shazier hit consecutive 3s just 39 seconds apart, tying it at 76 with 2:42 to play.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BC had taken its first lead of the game, 43-42, on Southern's layup just over a minute into the second half, but the Bison went on a 15-5 run, pulling to a 57-50 advantage on G.W. Boon's second straight 3-pointer with just over 13 minutes left.
The Eagles moved ahead again, 60-59, on Jackson's 3 before Johnson answered with a 3-pointer for Bucknell a few seconds later.
Bucknell, which opened the game with hot outside shooting, led 42-39 at halftime.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Bison took advantage of open looks and sizzling shooting from the floor, hitting 14 of their first 20 shots — 6 of 8 from beyond the arc — to pull to a 37-21 lead on Cohen's 3 from the left wing with just over eight minutes left in the half. Muscala scored eight of Bucknell's initial 20 points.
BC tightened up defensively — challenging the outside shots — and responded offensively by scoring 15 straight points over a 4:04 span, slicing its deficit to one on Jackson's jumper.