Syracuse completed the sweep of Boston College to keep its conference tournament hopes afloat.
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team survived a triple overtime scare from the Boston College Eagles on Saturday. The Orange (11-13, 5-8) led by as many as 11 and trailed by as many as seven in the second overtime, but ultimately did just enough to outlast the Eagles (10-13, 2-10) for the 95-86 victory.
Syracuse had shots to win at the end of regulation, overtime and the second overtime period but failed to connect on all three shots. The game looked to be in hand for Boston College with a seven point lead in overtime, but the Orange clawed back to force one more extra period. Jyare Davis and JJ Starling closed things out from there. Starling scored 28 points on 10-22 shooting and Davis had 16 points and 5 rebounds. Eddie Lampkin recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and 18 rebounds.
Syracuse and its dwindling list of reasons to keep competing this season found itself jockeying for position for an ACC Tournament berth against Boston College. Both teams seemingly made every effort to manufacture mistakes during critical stretches of the competition — in a game of attrition, Syracuse committed fewer miscues than Boston College in the final overtime stretch.
The Orange won the rebounding battle 50-45 and had a 52-36 points in the paint advantage. Boston College turned it over 16 times to the Orange’s 13. Syracuse went into the half with a 34-27 lead. Elijah Moore broke into double-figure scoring for the first time since the Maryland game in late December. Chris Bell added 12 points and 6 rebounds.
To the takeaways.
ACC Tournament bid still in play
Syracuse came into the day in 15th place in the league at 4-8. Had the ACC Tournament on Saturday the Orange would just narrowly be included as the final team in. The bottom three teams in the 18-member ACC will not make it to the conference tournament in Charlotte this season.
A defeat to Boston College would’ve narrowed the gap between the Eagles and Orange. Instead, Syracuse kept BC down at two wins in the league. Syracuse is now two games up on the 16th place team (NC State) and 2.5 games up on the 17th placed Eagles.
There’s plenty of work to do to avoid playing in the First Round of the ACC Tournament, but for now the Orange remain on track to make it to the conference tournament.
Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Second half Starling
JJ Starling got off to a slow start in the first half as Syracuse was buoyed by Moore’s first eight point. But Starling rallied early in the second. He traded offensive blows with the Boston College to keep his team out in front. He scored 10 points out of the locker room, including a pair of key threes.
Starling sat for an extended period of time in the second and didn’t come back in until there was 7:02 remaining on the game, perhaps icing the Syracuse star. He hit a mid-range shots at critical points, including a layup with two minutes left to put Syracuse up seven. A floater out of the horn sets with three minutes to go in the first overtime period put his team up two.
Starling’s layup to push the score to 91-86 in the third overtime all but gave Syracuse the separation necessary to close things out. He took 22 shots to get to 28 points and didn’t make every shot in crunch time, but more often than not Starling delivered in moments when it mattered.
Speaking of things that matter…
Free throws, they still do
Bah gawd, that’s Brent Axe’s music!
#FreeThrowsMatter. They even help you win free chicken! Even in this egg price economy.
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) February 8, 2025
Both teams kept things interesting by missing free throws and this game could’ve been iced on either side by converting from the charity stripe. Syracuse was 18-32 (56%) from the free throw line on the game while Boston College was 9-18 (50%). Some of those misses came at critical points.
Syracuse missed the front end on three straight one-and-ones late in regulation, keeping Boston College within striking distance and ultimately coaxing the game to move into extra time. Fred Payne missed a front end of a one-and-one in the second overtime and Donald Hand Jr. — a 91% free throw shooter — inexplicably missed two straight free throws just after which set the stage for a third overtime.
Both teams had opportunities to close the game out from the line, instead we were gifted (cursed?) with free basketball and for some, free food. For those that attended to the game, enjoy those free Chick-fil-A sandwiches courtesy of Hand Jr.