ESPN Men's Basketball

BOSTON -- Lonnie Jackson hit three 3-pointers in the second half, including a key one with 4:11 to play, and finished with 13 points to help Boston College pull out a 72-64 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) on Saturday.

Patrick Heckmann paced the Eagles with 18 points, while Olivier Hanlan had 13 and Joe Rahon 12.

Boston College (4-5) avoided losing to a team from the Northeast Conference for the second time this season. The Eagles fell at home to Bryant on Nov. 25.

Jalen Cannon led St. Francis (2-5) with 23 points and 13 rebounds. The Terriers lost for the fifth time in six games.

With BC clinging to a 59-58 edge, Jackson nailed a 3 from about two feet behind the line atop of the key. Heckmann then had a steal at midcourt and went in for a breakaway dunk, giving the Eagles a 64-58 lead with 3:51 to play.

The Terriers never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Trailing 48-39 early in the second half, the Eagles went on a 20-4 run over a 6-minute stretch. Jackson helped trigger the run with a pair of 3-pointers just 42 seconds apart. Andrew Van Nest had a pair of layups and Rahon scored six points, capping it with a 3 from the left wing.

The Terriers, who led by two points at intermission, opened the second half by scoring the initial seven points for a 42-33 edge on Cannon's jumper with just over 18 minutes to play.

Anthony White's driving basket with 1.7 seconds left gave St. Francis a 35-33 halftime edge. The Eagles had opened a 27-20 lead before the Terriers scored 15 of the 21 final points in the half.

The Eagles were outrebounded overall (21-15) and collected just two offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. In addition, they had no second-chance points.

BC starting center Dennis Clifford missed his second straight game with a right ankle injury and was on the bench with his foot in a boot. Coach Steve Donahue said after the last game that he thought the 7-footer would be out "a couple of weeks."

The Eagles don't open Atlantic Coast Conference play until they host No. 25 North Carolina State on Jan. 5.