SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Donald Hand Jr. poured in a game-high 28 points as Boston College played its first triple overtime game in nearly 60 years – a 95-86 loss at Syracuse on Sunday.
Hand made 10-of-23 shots from the floor – including five 3-pointers – to go along with seven rebounds in 51 minutes of play.
He was one of four BC players in double figures on the day. Joshua Beadle added 16 points, while Chad Venning had 11 and Fred Payne 10.
Payne forced extra time, connecting on a 3-pointer with less than two seconds left in the second half, capping a 7-0 Eagles’ run over the final 2:18 of regulation.
For the game, BC connected on 42.9% (33-77) from the floor, including 11-of-32 from the 3-point line. The Eagles uncharacteristically struggled from the free throw line, making 9-of-18 on the day.
FIRST HALF
- Syracuse led for the first five minutes of play, connecting on 4-of-5 to start
- Donald Hand Jr. had six of BC’s first eight points
- The Eagles tallied eight unanswered points, taking a 16-12 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Elijah Strong and Fred Payne and a turnaround fadeaway jumper from Chad Venning.
- Syracuse was 1-for-14 from the floor during an over five-minute scoreless stretch, but responded with a 7-2 push to retake the lead – 19-18 – with less than eight minutes to play in the period
- A Hand 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the half gave BC a 27-25 lead
- From there, Syracuse used a 9-0 run to close the half, as BC trailed 34-27 at the break
SECOND HALF
- Both teams began the second half hot, as BC made its first five attempts from the floor, while Syracuse connected on 4-of-5
- BC trailed 45-41 at the first media timeout (15:26), led by Dion Brown (5) and Joshua Beadle (4) early on
- The Orange extended the lead to as many as 10 – 55-45 – with 12:12 to play
- A BC 10-4 push – paced by a 3-ball from Hand and a floater in the lane from Payne – cut it to 59-55 with 7:02 left
- The Eagles got within one – 59-58 – on Hand’s fourth triple of the game, with 4:52 left
- But ‘Cuse’s 8-2 push put the lead back to three possessions – 67-60 – with 2:18 to play
- BC closed regulation on a 7-0 run over the final 2:18, beginning with a layup from Venning and a jumper from Hand with 12 ticks to play, making it 67-64.
- After Syracuse missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, BC got it across the time line and called timeout.
- On the ensuing play, Payne drilled a 3-pointer with less than two seconds, forcing overtime
OVERTIME PERIODS
- The first overtime period saw four lead changes and five ties, with neither team leading by more than two.
- BC led by one – 76-75 – with under a minute remaining after Venning converted a three-point play
- But the Orange went to the line with 30 seconds left, making one of two foul shots, and the game would go into a second overtime.
- In double OT, BC would score the first seven points, thanks to a trifecta from Beadle and layups from Hand and Venning.
- Syracuse scored the next six, cutting it to 83-82 with 1:04 left in the second extra frame.
- Payne’s two free throws with 38 seconds to go put BC back up 85-82, but a quick layup by Syracuse and a missed front-end by Hand gave the Orange the ball with 24 seconds left.
- The Orange connected on 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, tying it at 85-85 and the game entered its third overtime
- In the final five minute period, the Orange outscored BC 10-1 and held on for the victory.
NOTABLES
- The three overtime game at Syracuse tied for the longest game in program history.
- On March 13, 1966, BC downed Louisville, 96-90, in triple OT in the opening round of the NIT at Madison Square Garden in New York City
- Over his last four games, Donald Hand Jr. has scored 104 points – an average of 26.0 points per game over the stretch
- Hand’s 51 minutes played ties his for the ninth-most minutes played in a single-game this season; it is the fifth-most in the ACC
- Joshua Beadle connected on 7-of-8 shots from the floor, including both of his 3-point attempts, to go along with six assists
- It marked the fifth road game in ACC play this season that BC’s opponent held a double-digit advantage in free throws attempted
WHAT’S NEXT
- Boston College closes out its regular season series with Notre Dame at home on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
- Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. and the game will air live on either ESPN2 or ESPNU, with Jon Meterparel and Randolph Childress.
- Fans can also tune into the game live on WEEI 850 AM, with Josh Maurer and Kevin Collins.
