University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutemen Edge Eagles in Commonwealth Classic, 83-80
December 12, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2007
BOSTON (AP) -- Ricky Harris matched his career-high with 25 points and Gary Forbes scored 10 of his 22 in the closing five minutes to lift Massachusetts to an 83-80 win over Boston College Wednesday night in the 13th annual Commonwealth Classic.
The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for UMass (7-2) against its cross-state rivals. The Minutemen nearly squandered a 15-point lead in the closing 10 1/2 minutes, but Forbes helped them hang on.
Tyrese Rice led the Eagles (7-2) with 26 points and John Oates added 11 and eight rebounds.
Harris missed a breakaway layup with just under 10 seconds to play and the Eagles rushed up with Rice missing an open 3 before the Minutemen grabbed the rebound as time expired.
The Eagles had closed it to 75-73 on Rice's fastbreak layup with 2:02 left, but Forbes hit two free throws and Chris Lowe, who had 17 points, scored on a driving layup to make it 79-73.
After BC's Tyler Roche scored off his own miss, giving the Eagles a 44-43 lead with 16:23 to play, the Minutemen went on a 20-4 run over the ensuing 5:40.
UMass scored eight consecutive points -- the last basket coming when Tyrelle Blair was called for goaltending on Harris' shot -- but Blair had consecutive baskets to cut it to 51-48.
The Minutemen then scored the next 12 points, making it 63-48 with 10:27 to go. Harris started the spree with a 3-pointer from the right corner and added a fastbreak layup.
BC led 37-34 at intermission after a first half that saw the teams combine for more turnovers (10) than baskets (7) in the opening eight minutes. They combined to miss 22 of the initial 29 shots.
