Boston College defeats Hoop X-Men

Boston College 82 StFX 56

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Sophomore Corey Raji totaled 22 points and 14 rebounds and classmate Joe Trapani tallied 17 points and seven rebounds to lead Boston College to a 82-56 exhibition victory over St. Francis Xavier in Conte Forum.

Senior Tyrese Rice finished the contest with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Eagles led for much of the game, but did have to withstand a second-half rally by the visitors. BC led by as many as 12 points twice in the first half, only to see the X-Men close the half with a 12-3 run to trim the margin to three points - 31-28 - at the intermission. Raji paced BC with nine first-half points, while Trapani added eight points.

BC maintained a slim advantage through the early part of the second half, only to see StFX hit consecutive three-pointers to claim a 44-42 lead with 15:26 to play. After a BC field goal, the X-Men hit another trey to take their biggest margin at 47-44.

The Eagles then used a 10-2 run - with point contributions from Biko Paris (three points), Reggie Jackson (one point), Cortney Dunn (two points), Rice (two points) and Raji (two points) - to regain control at 54-49 with 8:28 remaining on the clock.

After one free throw by the X-Men, BC ran off the game's next eight points to further extend its lead (to 62-50 with 5:57 left). BC later scored 11 straight points to help account for the final margin.

Tyler Richards led the X-Men with 17 points and also had 6 assists and 3 steals, while Christian Upshaw scored 16 points and had 4 assists and 2 steals. Terrance Taylor chipped in with 13 points in the game.

Game Notes: StFX shot 9-for-19 from long range, while BC sank 4-of-20 long-range attempts ... BC outrebounded the X-Men, 53-30 ... Raji grabbed 10 of BC's 22 offensive rebounds ... BC totaled eight blocked shots, including four blocks by sophomore Josh Southern.

Courtesy Boston College Sports Information