Sophomore guard Donald Hand Jr. tossed in a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Monday night to lead host Boston College past The Citadel 69-60 in the season opener for both teams in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Hand was 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 11 of 11 from the free-throw line. He scored 17 points in the second half.
Chad Venning added 15 points in the game for the Eagles, who received 11 from Elijah Strong.
Brody Fox led The Citadel with 18 points. Fox’s layup with 24 seconds to play sliced BC’s lead to seven points, which was the closest the Bulldogs got in the second half.
Cam Glover and Keynan Davis each scored 10 points for the Bulldogs. Davis also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
It was a rough shooting night for The Citadel, which made 20 of its 52 shots from the floor (38.5 percent). The Bulldogs were 3 of 24 from 3-point territory.
BC led 27-25 with 1:44 remaining in the first half, then the Eagles used a 10-0 run to take a 37-25 lead with 7 seconds left in the half. Venning scored six points in the 10-0 run. BC had a 37-28 halftime lead.
The Citadel was 2 of 13 from 3-point territory in the opening 20 minutes, when BC had a 15-6 edge in points off turnovers.
The Citadel didn’t score in the second half until Glover made two free throws that cut BC’s lead to 43-30 with 15:02 to play. The Eagles owned their largest advantage in the game after Hand made two free throws to stretch the lead to 48-32 with 13:42 left.
The Bulldogs were within nine points, 63-54, after a Davis 3-pointer with 5:01 to play. Hand made two free throws that gave the Eagles a 67-54 advantage with 2:06 remaining.
BC had a 43-32 edge in rebounds. Each team committed 14 turnovers.