GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman — 3-pointer with four seconds left pushed Boston College past Missouri State, 76-74, and into the championship game on Tuesday night.
The Eagles will take on Boise State for the Cayman Islands Classic tournament title on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Trailing by three points in regulation, a 3-pointer forced overtime. BC overcame a six-point deficit in the extra frame, led by eight points from Strong, including the gamewinner.
Hand and (career-high) led BC with 18 points apiece, while Strong added 13.
- Missouri State made four of its first five shots and led 9-4 at the first media break
- A 5-2 push midway through the half, capped by a 3-pointer from Fred Payne gave BC its first lead since early on - at 16-15
- Over the final 15 minutes of the opening frame, the Eagles' defense held the Bears to only 6-of-22 shooting from the floor
- A low-scoring half, BC led 29-26 at the break
- Payne led the Eagles with eight points
- After a back and forth start to the second half, a 3-pointer from Hand gave BC its largest lead of the night - six points - at 39-33 with 15:49 to play
- BC extended Missouri State's scoreless run to nearly two and a half minutes, taking an 11-point lead - 48-37 - after a Jayden Hastings layup at the 11:41 mark
- A 7-0 Bears' run got them within four, but Hand stopped the bleeding with a pull-up jumper with 8:53 to play
- After a Payne layup made it 56-48 with 5:11 to play, MSU engineered a 7-0 run to cut it to one with 3:42 to go
- Thanks to a sizable second half advantage in free throw attempts, MSU took a two-point lead - 60-58 - with 1:39 left in regulation
- Payne drilled a 3-ball to put BC back up one - 61-60 with 1:12 left, but MSU regained the lead after two more trips to the charity stripe made it 64-61 with under 30 seconds left
- Hand connected from deep to tie the ballgame at 64-64 and after a defensive stop, the game headed to overtime
- MSU scored the first six points in the extra period, taking a 70-64 advantage with less than three minutes left
- An alley-oop from Chas Kelley to Jayden Hastings got the Eagles their first overtime points and after forcing a turnover, Elijah Strong drilled a 3-pointer to cut it to 70-69 with 1:44 remaining
- Two more free throws for the Bears on their next time down the court pushed the lead back to three - 72-69 - but Strong scored another bucket to keep it a one-point game - 72-71 - with less than a minute on the clock
- A strip steal by Hand - and subsequent foul in the attempt - put him on the line for two foul shots, pushing BC ahead by one 73-72
- Missouri State connected on another bucket in the painted area, leading 74-73 with 14 seconds to go
- But Strong did it again, knocking down his second trifecta in OT, giving BC its final margin of victory
- Fred Payne's 18 points marked a new career-high in scoring for the sophomore guard.