Boston College vs. St. Francis: Eagles aim to rebound against Terriers

Wins have been had to come by for the Boston College Eagles thus far, but with a home game against a struggling St. Francis Terriers team on tap Saturday afternoon, that could change.

Boston College enters Saturday at 3-5 overall, but has dropped five of seven games and two of three contests at home. Most recently, the Eagles fell short against the Harvard Crimson on Tuesday, 79-63, marking the fifth straight victory for the Crimson in Chestnut Hill.

Ryan Anderson, the Eagles' leading scorer and rebounder, led the way with 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds. Joe Rahon added 12 points and Lonnie Jackson scored 10 off the bench for Boston College, which shot 58.1 percent from the floor but gave the ball away 15 times and made only 3-of-13 threes. The Eagles kept themselves in the mix for the first twenty minutes, but a five minute stretch to open the second half saw Harvard rattle off a 20-8 run, and the lead would never change hands again.

Anderson is averaging 15.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in seven contests while freshman guards Olivier Hanlan (12.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.1 SPG) and Joe Rahon (11. PPG, 3.9 APG) are making their presence felt for the Eagles.

Injuries have already been an issue for the developing Eagles, with both Anderson and starting center Dennis Clifford missing time due to ankle injuries. Anderson has been working his way back from a right ankle tweak while Clifford was seen in a walking boot before the Harvard game. Clifford's status is not known for Saturday's game, although Eagles head coach Steve Donahue did suggest after Tuesday's game that he would miss two weeks.

St. Francis has been unable to put together a consistent stretch of successful games so far, and is 2-4 coming into Saturday. The Terriers dropped a 77-73 decision against the Albany Great Danes on Wednesday, but saw strong performances from reserve Travis Nichols (21 points, six rebounds) and Ben Mockford (18 points). Jalen Cannon was the only other Terrier to reach double digits, scoring 11 points. The Terriers shot 43.8 percent from the floor.

Cannon is St. Francis' leading scorer through six games, averaging 15.2 points, and also posts a team high 9.2 rebounds per game. Mockford (11.8 PPG), Akeem Johnson (10.8 PPG) and Kevin Douglas (10.8 PPG) are also reaching double digits on a consistent basis for the Terriers.

Boston College and St. Francis have met eight times with the Eagles holding a 5-3 series edge. While there haven't been many meetings between the two squads, the series dates back to 1920-21. The Eagles have won four of the previous five meetings, and the series was renewed in 2009-10. The last meeting took place on Nov 12, 2010, with BC capturing a 79-49 win -- the first for Donahue at BC.

Saturday's game tips off at 2 p.m. ET and will air on both ESPN3 and WEEI.

For more Boston College football coverage, visit our blog, BC Interruption.