Boston College beats Dartmouth 73-57 in Earl Grant's debut

BOSTON (AP) — New Boston College coach Earl Grant picked up a win in his first try, and then he enjoyed a victory dance in the Eagles locker room.

“He listened to our music, busted a move, and hyped us up,” BC guard DeMarr Langford said after scoring 16 points in a 73-57 win over Dartmouth on Tuesday night. “He’s got them old school moves. For me, I’d give it about an 8 out of 10.”

Quinten Post scored 14, Kanye Jones had 12 and Makai Ashton-Langford added 10 points for BC, which fired Jim Christian last year with three weeks left in his seventh season. Grant was brought in from the College of Charleston, where in 2018 he led the Cougars to their first NCAA appearance in almost two decades.

BC has not made the tournament since 2009, but Grant already has them dancing in Chestnut Hill.

“When we win, I like to have fun," he said. “Winning is hard, and I like to win. I think it’s important to celebrate every victory that you have.”

Taurus Samuels and Brendan Barry scored 10 points apiece, and Aaryn Rai pulled down nine rebounds for Dartmouth. The Big Green finished sixth in the eight-team Ivy League in 2019-20 and did not play last season during the pandemic.

Langford did play last year, averaging 6.7 points as a freshman for a BC team that went 4-16 amid several shutdowns for COVID-19 outbreaks. Still, Tuesday was his first college game in front of a crowd.

“There were definitely some jitters for me,” he said. “I’ve been waiting all day. It came, and we did it.”

Boston College scored the game's first seven points and then scored 13 straight midway through the first half — seven by Post — to open a 20-point lead. The Eagles made it 44-19 with the first basket of the second half before Dartmouth went on a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to 14 points.

But BC rattled off the next 12 points, capped by a fast-break dunk by Langford that made it 60-34 and sparked a celebration on the Eagles bench. The Big Green cut it to 16 points on a 3-pointer by Barry with three minutes left, but Gianni Thompson answered with a 3 for BC.

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