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Robinson's career-best 32 points leads BC past Sacred Heart (Dec 18, 2016)
BOSTON (AP) Boston College coach Jim Christian knows that so far this season his team's success relies solely on Jerome Robinson's play.
Robinson was there again when the Eagles needed him to carry them.
The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard scored a career-high 32 points and Jordan Chatman hit consecutive 3-pointers 27-seconds apart late in the game to help Boston College beat Sacred Heart 82-75 on Sunday.
''He's maturing. He knows he's really good player,'' Christian said. ''He's a really good offensive player. We need other guys around him to play with similar consistency.''
It was the second straight win for Boston College (6-5). Ky Bowman had 12 points and A.J. Turner 10 for the Eagles.
The Eagles opened a big lead early in the second half only to become sloppy before pulling it out late.
''In these types of games, we have a chance to put the game away with soundness and execution and we've been inconsistent,'' Christian said.
Quincy McKnight scored 25 of his career-best 36 points in the second half for Sacred Heart (5-7).
''We've been playing better,'' Pioneers coach Anthony Latina said. ''We talk about improving every game. The reality is we didn't play well enough to beat an ACC team.''
Trailing by 13 points early in the second half, the Pioneers went on a 16-0 run over a 5:26 span. The Eagles were held without a basket for nearly seven minutes.
The Eagles crept back in front 54-49 on Garland Owens' basket with 8:27 to play. They pushed it to 64-57 on Connar Tava's fastbreak layup with just over four minutes to play.
Chatman hit his 3s - both from the left corner in front of BC's bench - to push the Eagles' lead to 71-59 with 3:03 to play.
BC had used a 10-0 run late in the opening half en route to a 41-30 edge at intermission. Robinson and Nik Popovic combined for all of the points in the spree, with Robinson getting seven - the last coming on a baseline jam.
BIG PICTURE
Sacred Heart: The Pioneers were sloppy early in the game. They had 15 turnovers in the opening half - a few passes thrown nowhere near their own players and out of bounds - but settled down and ended up with 21 for the game. ... Picked eighth in the Northeast Conference preseason poll out of 10 teams, they'll need to find additional consistent scorers besides McKnight.
''You can't play that poorly with the ball in the first half and expect to win a game at Boston College,'' Latina said. ''If it's a Division III team, we can probably turnover like 15 times and win the game.''
Boston College: Coming off a last-second victory against Auburn in their last game on Monday, the Eagles looked more fluid offensively at the start with good ball movement and many cuts to the basket for high-quality shots before reverting to the team that suffered losses to teams from weaker conferences early in the second half. ... The Eagles improved to 8-0 lifetime against Sacred Heart.
''Everything we did well in the first half, we didn't do in the second half,'' Christian said.
20 AGAIN
Robinson, who entered the game third in the Atlantic Coast Conference averaging 19.3 per game, posted his seventh game over 20 points this season. He also had a four-point play with 9:23 to play, hitting a 3 from the right wing and the free throw after he was fouled on the shot.
UP NEXT
Sacred Heart: Hosts Holy Cross on Wednesday.
Boston College: Faces Fairfield on Wednesday at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
