Boston College 85, Maine 74

[December 12, 2014]   Boston College 85, Maine 74: Dennis Clifford scored a career-high 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added seven rebounds as the Eagles jumped out early and held off the visiting Black Bears.

Aaron Brown matched a season high with 21 points and Patrick Heckmann added 13 points and four steals as Boston College (5-3) picked up its third straight win. Dimitri Batten scored 12 points and Olivier Hanlan collected 10 points and six assists for the Eagles.

Zarko Valjarevic scored a season-high 22 points and Till Gloger added 17 for Maine (1-8). Troy Reid-Knight contributed 13 points off the bench as the Black Bears fell to 0-6 on the road.

Boston College jumped out to a 31-19 lead with seven minutes left in the first half and led by as much as 15 points before Maine closed within 42-34 at the break. Valjarevic buried a 3-pointer and hit three free throws to get the Black Bears within 45-40 less than four minutes into the second period.

Brown capped a 10-2 burst with a 3-pointer to stretch the advantage back to 13 points with 14 minutes remaining, but Maine continued to push back and five straight points by Reid-Knight cut it to 59-53 midway through the half. The Black Bears knocked down six straight free throws to close within 73-68 but Clifford and Brown led a burst that pushed it back to double figures.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Eagles, who came into the night shooting 24.1 percent from beyond the arc, went 7-of-17 from 3-point range led by Brown (4-of-7) and Batten (2-of-3). … Clifford went 9-of-11 from the free-throw line and blocked three shots. … Maine was playing the first in a stretch of five straight road games.

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