Boston College vs. Dartmouth final score: Eagles end 2012 with 79-58 win

CHESTNUT HILL - Freshman guards Joe Rahon and Olivier Hanlan helped the Boston College Eagles conclude 2012 in style, scoring a combined 39 points on the way to a 79-58 rout of the Dartmouth Big Green -- their fifth straight win -- inside Conte Forum on New Year's Eve.

"I thought it was a very good game in terms of understanding what it takes to win," said third-year Boston College head coach Steve Donahue. "I think Dartmouth plays extremely hard. I think [our] guys realized that pretty early on, that they had to really compete, and I think this team has learned that. I thought we adjusted to it and really played well on both sides of the ball."

Rahon finished with a game-high 24 points (7-for-8 from field, 6-for-6 from three-point range) and also had five assists and three rebounds while Hanlan finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. The Eagles had five players reach double figures, as both Ryan Anderson and Lonnie Jackson scored 12 points and Patrick Heckmann finished with 10 points. The Eagles shot 48.2 percent from the field (27-for-56) and made 12-of-25 threes and 13-of-14 free throws.

"We're feeling good, we're playing well going into the ACC and we're going to try to keep it rolling," said Rahon, whose 24-points were the most scored by any ACC freshman this season. "It was one of those days where the first one goes in and you're feeling good. My teammates just did a great job of finding me when I was open and coach [Donahue] is always talking about 'catch ready to shoot.' I was able to do that and they were able to fall for me today. It's a good feeling."

Boston College (8-5) missed its first six shots (three from three-point range) and allowed Dartmouth (2-9) to pull ahead 9-3 with just under 15 minutes to play in the opening half.. The Eagles would fight back to tie the game at 9 and again at 11 with 11:59 left. Hanlan gave BC its first lead of the day, 20-17, with a corner three with 9:23 to play and four free throws from Rahon over the next two plus minute put the Eagles up 26-21, their largest lead of the game at the time. Five straight points brought the Big Green within two, 26-24, but the Eagles would go up by six, 32-26, with three and a half minutes to go before halftime. After its lead had been cut to one point, 34-33, at the 2:06 mark, Boston College would end the half on a 7-0 run and led 41-33 entering the intermission.

The Eagles didn't let up at the start of the final half, as a 14-6 run out of the gates put them up 55-39 with 13:50 to go and they would take a 20-point lead, 64-44, at the 10:46 mark. The Eagles would hold serve down the stretch, outscoring the Big Green 15-14 in the final ten plus minutes to capture win number eight.

Connor Boehm scored 16 points to lead Dartmouth while Gabas Maldunas added 12 points and leading scorer Alex Mitola finished with 11 points. The Big Green were held to 37.0 percent shooting and were out-rebounded 36-29.

Boston College finished the month of December with a 5-1 record and is now 6-1 all-time in games played on Dec. 31. The Eagles open Atlantic Coast Conference play against the No. 23 ranked N.C. State Wolfpack next Saturday, Jan. 5, at 4 p.m. ET inside Conte Forum before heading out for two straight road games.

AUDIO: Boston College Press Conference (Donahue, Rahon, Hanlan)

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