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Kapke’s Career Night Lifts BC Past Pittsburgh for Second Straight ACC Win

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Boden Kapke, pictured above, finished with career-high 19 points in Wednesday's win. (Photo courtesy of BC Athletics)

Close games have not been very kind to Boston College basketball this season. The Eagles have lost seven games by 10 points or less and have played in four overtime games, losing three.

Those struggles may be a thing of the past—at least they have been this past week. Riding off a high of coming back and defeating Syracuse on Saturday for its first overtime win of the season, BC once again held off its opponent on Wednesday for its second straight ACC win.

It took two straight 3-pointers to close out the game against Pittsburgh at home for the Eagles (9–10, 2–4 ACC) to walk away with a win. First came Chase Forte’s 3-pointer over Pittsburgh’s 1-3-1 defense to tie the game. Then came Fred Payne’s crisp over-the-head pass to a wide-open Boden Kapke behind the 3-point line, which proved just enough to give BC the 65–62 win over the Panthers (8–11, 1–5).

“I told him, ‘I’m trusting you,’” Payne said of Kapke regarding his game-winning shot. “Knock the shot down.”

Kapke did just that, knocking down the shot for a career-high 19 points and the win.

The Payne-Kapke play was not a design BC usually runs late in the game, according to BC head coach Earl Grant.

“Just happy that they were able to be that unselfish and take the right shot instead of forcing a tough one,” Grant said of Payne’s pass.

Payne added 18 of his own, continuing his hot stretch in which he has averaged 22 points over BC’s last five games while shooting 53 percent from three and 48 percent from the field.

BC nearly allowed the Panthers to tie the game after Forte turned the ball over on his inbounds pass with four seconds left. Fortunately for the Eagles, Roman Siulepa’s deep 3-pointer was nowhere close, a welcome sight for Earl Grant.

“Just happy we’ve been able to get over the hump,” Grant said. “Guys are practicing hard, really trying to believe in what we’re doing, and hopefully we can build on it.”

It wasn’t a perfect game, as both teams displayed sloppy play at times. The Eagles had their usual offensive droughts without any scoring. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh missed 10 free throws and countless open layup opportunities.

“For us, this game comes down to missed layups and missed free throws,” Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel said.

Kapke’s emergence has certainly been a part of BC getting over that hump, particularly his ability to play off Payne along the 3-point line in addition to his strengths posting up near the basket.

Grant said he doesn’t want to compare Kapke to former BC great center Quinten Post, but that it’s hard not to see the similarities in their games. Grant hopes to develop Kapke into a “stud,” similar to how he helped Post blossom in Chestnut Hill.

“He’s starting to come into his own as an inside-outside threat,” Grant said of Kapke. “Hopefully we can continue to help him, you know, keep his confidence going in the right direction.”

BC and Kapke started the game off firing, as Kapke had 11 of the Eagles’ first 17 points to give BC a 17–12 lead five minutes into the game. That momentum lasted the entire first half, as BC entered halftime with a 28–22 lead.

However, the Eagles got off to a terrible start to begin the second half, turning the ball over twice in 31 seconds, forcing Grant to call a timeout. Pittsburgh’s offense subsequently got rolling, as the Panthers rattled off 23 points in just eight minutes to take a 45–41 lead.

But Payne wouldn’t allow BC to fade away like it has in the past, as the guard scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.

“I knew I had to turn it on,” Payne said. “I know I’m a scorer now, so just a second-half mindset—get to the rack, get a couple of easy ones, get the guys involved so I can be open.”

Grant isn’t necessarily surprised by BC’s recent success, as he’s always preached that his goal is to get the Eagles to play their best basketball come March.

“That’s why a season is a duration,” Grant said. “As long as you continue to move your feet in the right direction, stay together as a group, and work with enthusiasm, continuing to look yourself in the mirror and figure out how you can get better instead of pointing fingers, then you can play your best basketball in March.”

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Boston College lands one of nation’s top rebounders in Brandon Benjamin, along with former Charleston forward Colby Duggan

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Boston College received two more transfer commitments this weekend in Brandon Benjamin and Colby Duggan. Benjamin and Duggan join Money Williams, Ernest Shelton and JB Frankel as the fourth and fifth transfers to commit to Luke Murray and BC this offseason. The Eagles now have seven players on their roster, including international signing Zak Smrekar and Jack Bailey, the only BC player from last year not to enter the portal.

Benjamin, a 6-foot-8 forward from Newark, N.J., played his only collegiate season last year at Fairfield University. The rising sophomore was named to the 2025-26 MAAC All-Rookie Team and All-MAAC Second Team after averaging 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 56.5% from the field. Benjamin ranked first in the MAAC and eighth in the country in rebounds per game and second in the country in offensive rebounds per game (4.25).

“What made me pick BC first was the coaching staff,” Benjamin told ZAGSBLOG on Sunday. “It really felt like family. I will bring my high motor, plus rebounding, finishing around the rim and taking guys off the dribble. [I also bring] my catch-and-shooting, pick-and-pop, my winning impact and my versatility with guarding 1-5 with the ability to block shots.”

Duggan, a 6-foot-7 forward from Monson, Mass., averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 19 games for Charleston last season after missing the first part of the year with an injury. He spent the previous two seasons at Campbell University and averaged 15.7 points and 3.3 rebounds on 34% shooting from 3-point range during the 2024-25 season.

“He competes on both ends of the court at all times,” former Charleston head coach and current USF head coach Chris Mack said. “He’s a warrior. He’s a winner. Defensively, Colby doesn’t back down. He guards well in the post and on the perimeter. Offensively, he led the conference in scoring and is just scratching the surface of what he can be as a mismatch.”

Benjamin should slot into the starting lineup as the power forward or a small-ball big thanks to his impressive rebounding ability, while Duggan comes to BC as a depth piece off the bench.

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Former Merrimack sharpshooter Ernest Shelton commits to Boston College

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Guard Ernest Shelton announced his commitment to Boston College early Thursday night. The former Merrimack Warrior became the fourth transfer to commit to head coach Luke Murray and the Eagles, joining Zak Smrekar, Money Williams and JB Frankel. Shelton was named to the 2025-26 All-MAAC first team while helping lead the Warriors to a MAAC regular-season championship.

Shelton played two seasons at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the opposite side of the state from his hometown of Philadelphia, before transferring to Merrimack last offseason. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 15.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 34.6% from behind the 3-point line.

“[Shelton]’s a shooter,” Merrimack head coach Joe Gallo said. “Every time it comes out of his hand, you think it’s going in.”

Shelton knocked down 99 3-pointers for Merrimack last season and was among the top 40 in the country in 3-pointers made per game (2.9). He set a career high last season with nine 3-pointers in a game against Boston University and made five or more 3-pointers in six games.

The sharpshooter is a breath of fresh air for a Boston College program that finished last in the ACC in 3-point percentage last season.


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Boston College lands Zak Smrekar, Money Williams, and JB Frankel, first three transfer commitments of Luke Murray era

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Boston College received its first three transfer commitments of the 2026 transfer portal cycle on Thursday in Zak Smrekar, Money Williams, and JB Frankel. Smrekar, Williams, and Frankel are the first three players to commit to BC since Luke Murray was named head coach on March 26 and join Jack Bailey as the only three players currently on the Eagles’ roster.

Smrekar is a 19-year-old, 6-foot-7 guard from Slovenia and was the first to commit to Murray. He played for the club Krka Novo Mesto in the Slovenian ABA for three seasons and averaged 9.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 15 games in the 2025-26 season. Smrekar also played for Slovenia in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup and averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in seven games.

Williams is a 20-year-old, 6-foot-4 guard who played the last three seasons for Montana. The Oakland, California, native was named to the 2025-26 All-Big Sky First Team after averaging 20.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on 49.8% shooting from the field. Williams scored a career-high 40 points against Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Tournament, along with tallying six other 30-point games last season.

“I can’t come up with enough words to praise Money Williams properly,” Montana head coach Travis DeCuire said in October 2025. “When you talk about the young man that he is off the court, the young man he is when you bring him in the office, and you have real conversations with him and look him in the eye and talk about things that are hard to talk about.”

Frankel is a 21-year-old, 6-foot-3 guard who is not moving far, as he played the last three years at Northeastern. He started 13 of 30 games for the Huskies last season and averaged 5.9 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. The New York City native scored a season-high 13 points in a road win against Harvard.

Coach Murray will have to continue to build up the Eagles roster, but with three guards being picked up, look for the Eagles to hone in on finding their starting forwards and big men.

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