BOSTON (AP) -- Ryan Anderson had a pair of layups off Joe Rahon's passes in the closing 2 minutes and finished with 24 points to lift Boston College to a 71-68 win over Providence Saturday afternoon in the 107th meeting between the schools.
Olivier Hanlan added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles (6-5), who posted their fourth win in five games.
Bryce Cotton led the Friars (8-3) with 33 points and Kadeem Batts scored 14 with seven boards before fouling out with 5:01 to play.
With Boston College clinging to a 64-63 lead, Anderson sneaked inside all alone and Joe Rahon found him for a layup with 1:30 to play. Hanlan added a free throw 20 second later after Cotton missed a 3, giving the Eagles a 67-63 edge.
Cotton hit two free throws to cut it to 67-65, but Rahon drove the lane with the shot clock winding down and fed Anderson again with 23 seconds to play. Hanlan's two free throws sealed it.
The schools have played every season since 1953-54 -- except in 2005-06.
After Anderson's two free throws cut the Friars' lead to 42-40 with 15:06 to play, neither team held a more than a one-possession lead over the next 10 minutes.
Patrick Heckmann's 3-pointer from the right corner broke a 56-all tie and Hanlan followed with a free throw, giving the Eagles a 60-56 lead with 5:01 left.
The Friars had kept it close because of Cotton, who scored 12 of their 14 points during a 7 -minute stretch midway through the half.
After Cotton scored on a drive, Anderson answered for BC with a reverse layup, making it 62-58 with just fewer than 4 minutes left. But Ladontae Henton scored on a short jumper in the lane for Providence on the next possession.
Hanlan then hit two free throws for BC with 2:42 to go, pushing BC's lead back to four points before Cotton nailed a baseline 3 on the next trip down the floor.
The pace slowed down and so did the scoring early in the second half. Both teams relied on half-court offense, running the shot clock down low on most possessions that were fairly unsuccessful.
The Eagles missed eight of their first nine shots to start the second half, but trailed by only two with just under 15 minutes to play because the Friars were shooting nearly as poorly.
Neither team held more than a two-possession lead in the opening half. BC had opened a 25-19 edge on Anderson's free throw with 7:23 to play, but Providence scored 12 of the next 16 points to grab a 31-29 lead on Batts' two free throws with just fewer than 4 minutes left. Cotton nailed a pair of 3s in the spree.
It stayed close the rest of the way before Henton's two free throws with 38 seconds left sent the teams to intermission tied at 36.
In the opening minutes, Providence came out in a zone, but quickly changed to man-to-man defense after the Eagles got a couple of easy chances.
The Eagles wore black patches with the initials `LG' in honor of 26-year old Lisa Gallup, who died after a battle with cancer this week. She's the daughter of assistant athletic director Barry Gallup.
