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Boston College topples No. 22 Maryland

Dec 11, 2006 - 2:07 AM CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Boston College had a rude welcome for former coach Gary Williams.

Jared Dudley had 20 points and 11 rebounds as Boston College upended Maryland, 73-62, in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Williams was making his first trip back to BC since 1986, where he had led the Eagles to two NCAA tournament berths in four seasons.

"Twenty years is a long time," Williams said. "This was my first look at Conte Forum. They've done a real nice job here with the facility. We played at the old Roberts Center."

Center Sean Williams was immense underneath for Boston College (6-2, 1-0 ACC), scoring 10 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking seven shots in helping repel a series of late rallies by Maryland (9-2, 0-1).

"A shot blocker is the last line of defense," Eagles coach Al Skinner said. "If he's blocking shots, that's means we didn't play as well as we needed to and that's something I always focus in on. We'll take it, obviously, because we have the ability, but that's not something I want to rely on."

James Gist had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins, who cut a 10-point lead to 58-55 on Mike Jones' 3-pointer with 6:20 to play.

The Eagles answered immediately when freshman Shamari Spears converted a three-point play 16 seconds later.

Boston College, which has won five in a row, opened the door for Maryland when Dudley missed three straight free throws with 3:19 remaining and the lead at 65-59.

"We were in pretty good position with five or six minutes remaining in the game," Gary Williams said. "We had to make some plays and we didn't make the plays. We had our chances. Hopefully, with this the first league game you play, we'll be a better team when we get to the rest of the 15 (ACC) games."

Sean Williams and Dudley finished off the Terrapins, converting layups on the next two trips down the floor to build the lead to 69-59.

"I thought we had good execution and got the ball where we wanted to get it and really showed some patience," Skinner said. "I thought it was that type of play that allowed us to win. Almost every shot coming down the stretch was by a good decision and by design."

Tyrese Rice scored 17 points for the Eagles, including back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Eagles a 19-10 lead before the game was seven minutes old.

Maryland rallied to tie before Dudley scored seven straight points for BC to give the Eagles a 38-29 halftime lead.

Dudley surpassed Michael Adams for 10th place on BC's career scoring list. He now has 1,654 points, four more than Adams, who, ironically, is an assistant under Gary Williams.