Jared Hamilton made the second and third attempts of a three-shot foul with 17.2 seconds to play to lift Boston College past host North Carolina 71-70, spoiling the return to action of Tar Heels guard Cole Anthony on Saturday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Anthony's airball ended the game on a desperation 3-point attempt, after the Tar Heels failed to get into much of an offensive set.
Anthony, a freshman who came off the bench, scored 26 points in his first game in nearly two months. He was 14-for-14 on free throws.
Hamilton finished with 18 points, Derryck Thornton had 15, Jay Heath added 12 and Nik Popovic posted 10 for Boston College (11-11, 5-6), which won for the second time in its the last seven games.
Hamilton scored the game's final two points after he was fouled by Brandon Robinson.
Robinson's 12 points, Armando Bacot's 11 points and Garrison Brooks' 10 points also helped the Tar Heels (10-11, 3-7), who had won their previous two games. However, Brooks missed all seven free-throw attempts.
Boston College snapped a 12-game losing streak in games against North Carolina.
Popovic tied the game at 68 by hitting a free throw at the 1:34 mark. Anthony missed a long 3-point attempt.
Thornton made one of two attempts at the 46-second mark for a one-point lead. Then Anthony's runner in the lane with 29.7 seconds to play put the Tar Heels ahead at 70-69, leading to Hamilton's winning free throws.
Boston College led 48-38 with 12 minutes to play. The Tar Heels scored the next 11 points, with Anthony accounting for seven of those.
The Eagles responded on a 7-0 run in 66 seconds.
Brooks' basket and Anthony's two free throws at the 3:01 mark put the Tar Heels up 66-63. Thornton scored the next four points
Earlier, Anthony checked in with 15:45 to play in the first half to a standing ovation. He scored six points in about 6 1/2 minutes before coming off the court.
Anthony missed 11 games, with the Tar Heels going 4-7 in those. He last played in a Dec. 8 loss at Virginia in what at the time was a matchup of top-10 teams.
Boston College was up 32-30 at halftime for only its second halftime lead in a seven-game stretch.
--Field Level Media
Boston College | North Carolina | |
Jared Hamilton 18 | Scoring | Cole Anthony 26 |
Jay Heath 6 | Assists | Cole Anthony 3 |
Steffon Mitchell 8 | Rebounds | Armando Bacot 10 |
Derryck Thornton 7 | Free Throws Made | Cole Anthony 14 |
Nik Popovic 4 | Steals | Cole Anthony 2 |
CJ Felder 2 | Blocks | Armando Bacot 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Boston College | 71 | 46.4 | 7-18 | 12-17 | 12 | 34 | 2 | 8 | 15 |
North Carolina | 70 | 36.1 | 4-19 | 22-31 | 9 | 40 | 3 | 8 | 12 |