– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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CHESTNUT HILL, MASSACHUSETTS — A couple of tough contests that South Carolina fell short on last month was surely going to benefit the Gamecocks down the road in this season, but some immediate dividends were paid as the most recent challenge away from Columbia turned into a laugher in their favor.
Forward Collin Murray-Boyles had 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as South Carolina used a stifling defensive effort to defeat Boston College 73-51 inside Conte Forum as part of the SEC vs. ACC Challenge competition. Nick Pringle added 11 points as seven Gamecocks scored at least eight points in total.
Boston College guard Chas Kelley III made a layup at the 7:18 mark of the first half to cut the Eagles deficit to 22-17, but the Gamecocks ended the half on a 14-2 run. During that stretch, South Carolina held Boston College without a point for 6:12, opening up a double-digit lead that did not fall under 15 points for the rest of the game.
Murray-Boyles had a much better outing tonight than in his first true road game of the season, when he scored just two points in 19 minutes before fouling out in a Gamecocks’ defeat at the hands of then-No. 16 Indiana in Bloomington on November 16. He also fouled out last week in a defeat to then-No. 22 Xavier in Fort Myers, but was able to stay in tonight’s game and made an immediate impact with a double-double in the first half alone (14 points, 10 rebounds).
Boston College big man Chad Venning scored 12 points to lead the Eagles, though all of his points came in the first 20 minutes. Donald Hand Jr. had 10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds for Boston College, who has lost two straight after winning the Cayman Islands Classic holiday tournament a week ago on Tuesday.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 31 pictures in total.
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