By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
ATLANTA ó Duke avenged a season-altering loss by coming up with a critical stop.
Gerald Henderson scored a go-ahead basket with 34.6 seconds left, and the third-seeded Blue Devils held on for a 66-65 win against sixth-seeded Boston College in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal late Friday night at the Georgia Dome.
BC’s Rakim Sanders attempted a long 3-pointer from the right wing in the closing seconds, and Duke players poured onto the court after the ball bounced off the left side of the rim.
“I don’t know what they were trying to run there, but we took them out of whatever it was,” Duke guard Jon Scheyer said. “That’s where you just need to bear down. If he hits that, there’s not much else we can do.”
Henderson, who picked up two fouls in the first 34 seconds, finished with 16 points. Kyle Singler matched his career high of 26 points as Duke (26-6) advanced to a semifinal matchup with seventh-seeded Maryland. Salisbury native Tyrese Rice led the Eagles (22-11) with 17 points, but he didn’t touch the ball on Boston College’s final possession.
The Blue Devils made drastic changes to their lineup following a loss at Boston College on Feb. 15, and they’ve won six of their last seven games. Duke went 7-for-9 from 3-point range and shot 63.6 percent from the field in the second half of its latest victory.
“We couldn’t hit shots for a while,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “To see us get out of that within a win, it shows me how far our team has come.”
The Blue Devils led 54-46 with roughly eight minutes remaining, and BC tied the game on a 3-pointer from Biko Paris with 1:38 left.
One free throw from Singler gave Duke a 64-63 edge, and the Eagles pushed ahead when Joe Trapani made two free throws with 52.4 seconds left.
Henderson ran off a screen to get open on the left block, and he turned back toward the middle before converting a layup.
“I just knew that once I got it I had to make a strong move whether I score a basket or get fouled,” Henderson said.
A shot from Sanders hit the right side of the backboard on Boston College’s next trip, but the Eagles retained possession. Singler deflected an inbounds pass thrown toward the basket, and Scheyer collected the loose ball. An 83-percent shooter from the line, he missed the front end of a one-and-one.
After a timeout, Duke double-teamed Rice and prevented him from receiving an inbounds pass. Sanders dribbled past halfcourt and called another timeout with 5.5 seconds remaining.
Sanders inbounded the ball to Tyler Roche near midcourt and got it back before releasing a contested jumper over Henderson.
“It was a man’s game out there, and I’m proud of our guys to be able to make that one stop to win the game,” Krzyzewski said.
Krzyzewski had a long talk with Rice in the handshake line and later hugged the charismatic senior.
Several Duke players also embraced Rice, who scored 11 points after halftime.
“I really admire who he is as a player and a kid,” Krzyzewski said.
Duke held Boston College to two points in the first eight minutes and was ahead 17-9 when Nolan Smith, who had sat out the last three games while recovering from a concussion, missed a breakaway layup.
Sanders scored at the other end to start a 20-5 run that enabled the Eagles to take a 29-22 lead to the locker room. Rice drilled a stepback 3 over the 6-foot-8 Singler in the closing seconds, then turned to a television camera near midcourt and shouted, “I ain’t playin’ no more.”
Henderson started the second half with an emphatic dunk. The Eagles pulled ahead 34-26 before Singler, Smith and Scheyer combined for four 3-pointers in a 12-2 run.
“G got in foul trouble, and it screws everybody up, especially the coach,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought Kyle kept us in there, and the second half we flowed so much better offensively.”