The Boston College men’s basketball team has gotten off to a rough start to their season at just 3-5, and they were stunned on Sunday by UMass-Lowell out of the America East conference, 68-66.
While an ACC team losing to a team that just went Division I two years ago is nearly inexcusable, we might be able to give the Eagles a slight pass on this one, considering eight of their team members came down with E.coli before the game.
The players took a visit to the Chipotle in Cleveland Circle, Massachusetts on Saturday, and they apparently missed the news about the E.coli outbreak at several Chipotle restaurants, and as many as eight BC players were affected with severe gastrointestinal distress. Via Sporting News:
Boston College head coach Jim Christian got several phone calls at 6:30 on Sunday morning from players who said they suffered the effects of food poisoning overnight and would be questionable for Sunday’s game against UMass-Lowell.
As it turns out, the news may be worse, as dozens of Boston College students were also sickened, forcing the Cleveland Circle (Mass.) location to close temporarily.
Some of the affected players such as Dennis Clifford had to sit the game out while others, like Jerome Robinson, suited up anyways (Robinson had a team-high 16 points in the loss).
BC student athletes received an email not to eat at Chipotle on Sunday (the rest of the students got an official one a few hours later), but it was too late for the nearly two-thirds of BC basketball players who felt the effects of the bacteria.
Those who suffered from E.coli only have one more day to recover, as BC faces off against Kris Dunn and Providence on Wednesday night.
(Via Sporting News)
