CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- For a Boston College team still looking to form an identity under new coach Jim Christian, Friday night's 69-60 win over Providence College was perhaps the Eagles' strongest step in that direction.

After a tight first half featuring seven lead changes, the Eagles knew they had to step up in the second half in order to top the Friars, who ranked in the top 25 of the coaches' poll as recently as last week. And by doing so, the Eagles ended up with the type of performance Christian felt they were desperate for.

"We needed a game where somebody made a run back at us and we made another run back, and I think that's what we did," Christian said. "Today we put it together, and we played both halves the right way."

The buzz phrase during the team's postgame news conference was "identity plays," a reference to the message Christian is trying to instill in his players. It's not the flashy plays, but instead the gritty ones, that lead to a victory. Even though he's new to the program, Christian said the players have bought in since day one.

In fact, they were the ones who brought it up after the game.

"Like Coach says, he has his 'identity plays,'" graduate forward Aaron Brown said. "I'm sure we had a million of those tonight, probably the most out of any game. He said that was what was going to win the game, and he was right. Those plays, the identity plays -- paying attention to detail and taking the game plan to the T."

Of those "million" identity plays, the defining one came in the second half. With the Eagles finally starting to distance themselves from the Friars on the scoreboard, BC sophomore forward Will Magarity dove on the floor to rope in an offensive rebound and had the wherewithal to quickly call timeout in order to retain possession after a Friars defender rushed over in an attempt to take the ball away. After the whistle was blown, Magarity's teammates ran over to help him up, cheering enthusiastically to show their appreciation for his effort.

"That was a good game-changer in terms of just the second half," junior guard Olivier Hanlan said. "Whenever somebody makes a play like that it just sparks up the whole team. The whole bench was jumping up. It kind of gave us that extra boost to just get back in and get a stop and score and just continue fighting."

Having pulled Magarity aside before the game to tell him he needed to step up, Christian was particularly high on the sophomore's play. In the coach's eyes, it wasn't the game-changing dive that sparked the team, though. It was the moment afterward, when his players all came together to pick up their teammate and recognize that Magarity had made the right play.

It was a sign that his system is working.

"They appreciate the identity plays," Christian said. "They're learning now how important those plays are. It's not just diving on the floor. It can help change the outcome of the game. So I think, to me, that was unbelievably special because to watch the guys, some of whom didn't even get in the game, run out there -- that means they all get it. And that's what made me feel good."

Having started off the season playing a tough stretch of teams -- several of which the coach described as having their eyes set on a spot in the NCAA tournament -- the Eagles are now 4-3 after winning their past two. With four games to go on their current six-game homestand before taking off to play Duke, Christian hopes his team continues to adapt to his new system and thrive under it.

While the results remain to be determined, Friday night's win at least provided the team with a glimpse of what is possible, and Christian hopes that will be enough to inspire his team moving forward.

"We needed to gain momentum," Christian said. "We needed to have a game like this where we had to grind out a win and just keep getting better, and that's really what's happened."