DePaul prevails in the last minute to defeat Boston College 72-67

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Alexa Sandler | The DePaulia

The DePaul bench celebrates a play during a game against Cornell on Nov. 16 at Wintrust Arena.

After Boston College walked into Wintrust Arena and defeated DePaul in the last few seconds last season, the Blue Demons returned the favor this season when they paid a visit to the Eagles on Saturday. DePaul prevailed in the last minute by winning 72-67 and improving to 6-0 on the season. 

Unlike last season, where the Blue Demons failed to close out the game in the final minute, junior guard Charlie Moore scored eight points in the final couple of minutes of the game to give the Blue Demons their sixth win of the season. 

After Derryck Thornton scored to cut DePaul’s lead to one, 62-61, that’s when Moore erupted for eight of the team’s final 10 points — which proved to be the difference between the two teams. 

The Blue Demons got off to a slow start in the game, only scoring nine points and committing four turnovers in the first six minutes of the game. But their defense managed to keep the game close by forcing the Eagles to take tough shots and forcing turnovers. 

While the rest of the team got off to a slow start, freshman Romeo Weems helped carry the load in the first 10 minutes with seven points and a couple of rebounds. Weems had to come out of the game later in the first half because of an injury, but came back in a couple of minutes later. 

Weems finished the game with a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. 

Junior forward Paul Reed also had a strong first half with 10 points and five rebounds. With Boston College’s star big man Nik Popvic getting into foul trouble, Reed was able to use his size advantage inside the paint against smaller defenders. But, like Popvic, Reed got into foul trouble in the second half and only scored two points after the break. 

With the Blue Demons struggling to find any rhythm on offense, Boston College took a 28-25 lead with three minutes left in the first half. But Moore came to the rescue in the final minute, scoring five straight points and giving the Blue Demons a 30-28 lead going into the break. 

Coming out of the break, DePaul and Boston College traded baskets in the first few minutes until the Blue Demons went on a 8-0 run to take a 43-34 lead. DePaul would continue to have success on offense the next couple of minutes when they took their largest lead of the game, 54-41. 

But the Eagles would respond with their own 9-0 run to cut the Blue Demons’ lead to four, 54-50, with eight minutes to play. 

Both offenses would struggle the next five minutes, but the Blue Demons managed to keep their lead throughout that span by answering any makes from the Eagles. 

After Weems got an easy dunk to extend DePaul’s lead to 62-57, Popovic responded with a jumper to keep the game within three points. That’s when Moore took over and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Blue Demons a 70-64 lead.

Senior guard Jalen Coleman-Lands iced the game when he hit two free-throws. Boston College would knock down one more 3-pointer, but that would not be enough to start a comeback. 

The Blue Demons will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Central Michigan.