BOSTON – The Boston College men’s basketball and Syracuse teams are bottom dwellers in the ACC, but both programs performed high above their station on Saturday afternoon at Conte Forum.
The Orangemen staged a late rally to pull out a 79-71 victory over the Eagles in a wildly entertaining affair before a mixed house of 6,287 fans. BC fell to 9-7 overall, 1-4 in the ACC and play at Notre Dame on Monday, while the Cuse improved to 8-8 and 2-3.
Donald Hand Jr. paced BC with 20 points and nine boards while forward Chad Venning and guard Joshua Beadle netted 17 apiece. Syracuse guard JJ Starling led five Cuse players in double figures with 26 points.
“Everybody was making plays, and it was a back-and-forth game,” Eagles coach Earl Grant said. “If I were a fan, I would have probably really enjoyed the game. I kind of enjoyed coaching it, but I probably would have enjoyed it more as a fan. It was entreating, but it just got tight.”
The Orangemen are the Traveling Wilburys of the ACC, and BC is the most popular stop on the tour because of its regional proximity and the army of Syracuse alums that inhabit the Greater Boston area. Orange was the color of the day, and the Cuse fans made Conte sound like a second home. BC won the last meeting, 80-75, at the Heights on Jan. 30.
“I just want to give a big shout-out to the Orange fans that traveled and came today and supported this team,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said. “It was so exciting, and it was great for our guys because the support in the building was unbelievable.”
The game resembled an unruly playground match from the opening tap that featured 7:30 minutes of uninterrupted action. BC fell behind 12-6 at 14:13 on Taylor’s second pull-up jumper. The Eagles regrouped with a 7-0 surge to take their first lead, 13-12, on a tray by Hand from the top before the first media timeout.
“I wouldn’t say a playground game, but it was definitely fast-paced,” Hand said. “I think it was the first time we had a game that felt like that all season.”
The Cuse came out of the break and landed three consecutive deep balls – two by senior guard Lucas Taylor – to go up 21-13 into the second media timeout. BC cut the lead to 21-20 on a Chad Venning jump hook in the paint, but the Orangemen scored six straight to go up 27-20 into the final media timeout.
BC tied the game 29-29 with two from the line by Hand with 33 seconds remaining. Cuse junior forward Chris Bell made three free throws with 7.4 seconds remaining, but Beadle beat the buzzer with a corner trey to tie the game, 32-32, at the break.
“We did many things right,” BC coach Earl Grant said. “Took care of the ball and played pretty unselfishly for the most part, and it’s a possession game.
“It’s a margin game, and it’s a possession game, and it’s a small margin. They took advantage of that, and we came up short.”
BC blitzed Syracuse with a 9-4 run to start the second half. Venning scored the first seven with various shots before Beadle finished a drive to put the Eagles up 41-36 with 16:15 to play. Hand put BC up 51-44 by converting a 3-point play followed by two from the line with 10:40 to play. The Eagles led 54-48 at the third media timeout.
Syracuse responded with a 10-0 and took a 56-54 lead on a jumper by Starling with 5:35 to play. The Orange scored 66-60 on a runner by Starling with 2:35 on the clock. Syracuse pressed its advantage down the stretch, with guard Kyle Cuffe’s two 3-point shots serving as the “dagger.”
“I thought Starling took over in a patch of the second half,” Grant said. “And I thought Cuffe came in as a veteran and made some dagger threes.”
