74 - 73 Somehow, someway, Syracuse got the win in overtime after a rough shooting night to collect their sixth win over their last seven games.
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men's basketball team clinched their fifth straight home victory Monday night inside the Dome in dramatic fashion, defeating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in overtime 74-73.
With tonight's victory in the books, the Orange are rolling, collecting their sixth win over the last seven games played
For the third straight game, Jim Boeheim started forward Frank Anselem despite the strong play of backup graduate student center Bourama Sidibe. The Orange were led By Jimmy Boeheim’s second straight double-double scoring 20 points and recording 10 rebounds along with Cole Swider’s 18 points and 12 rebound outing.
Following the opening tip, Syracuse couldn't find a consistent rhythm shooting the ball through the first four minutes of the contest. The Orange shot 0-6 from the field and 0-4 from distance only collecting one point off a Joe Girard free-throw after getting fouled on a layup attempt.
This slow shooting start along with six unanswered Yellow Jacket points led to Jim Boeheim calling Syracuse’s first timeout of the game being down 6-1 after four minutes of play.
Coming out of the timeout, Boeheim subbed out Anselem and turned to Bourama Sidibe to step up and play important minutes. Jimmy Boeheim connected on back-to-back lay-ups followed by Sidibe dunk to put Syracuse down 7-12.
Although Georgia Tech after the first 8 minutes of the contest shot 7-14 from the field with 15 points, Syracuse slowly began to find their rhythm with some gritty hustle plays.
Coming out of the Yellow Jackets' first timeout of the contest, Girard got a three to connect after starting the game 0-3 from distance. Jimmy Boeheim then tied the game up 15-15 after connecting on a driving lay-up to the basket.
After a three from Yellow Jacket’s Miles Kelly, Girard connected on his second three of the game to tie it up again for the Orange. Shortly after, Jimmy Boeheim connected on his first three of the night to take a 21-18 lead with 8:28 left in the first. Both teams traded baskets for two straight possessions until the Yellow Jackets called their second timeout of the game, Syracuse leading 25-23 behind Jimmy Boeheim's 12 points on 71.4% shooting from the field.
Following the timeout, The Yellow Jackets scored seven unanswered points in two minutes to take a 30-25. The Orange’s scoreless streak didn't last too much longer as Jimmy connected on a three to narrow the Yellow Jackets lead to 28-30. This called for Georgia Tech's third timeout of the game with 3:16 left in the half.
Out of the timeout, Cole Swider got on the board for his fourth point of the game off a jumper from the top of the key, tying the game 30-30. The Yellow Jackets wouldn't stop fighting though, taking a three-point lead following a made free throw from Jalon Moore and a Kyle Sturdivant mid-range jumper.
Swider then went on to hit a tough three-pointer for his seventh point of the game with under a minute left in the half to tie the game 33-33 heading into halftime.
Syracuse finished the first half behind Jimmy Boeheim’s 15 points on 60% shooting and Cole Swider’s 7 points and 7 rebounds. As a team, Syracuse shot 35.3% on 12-34 from the field and 29.4% on 5-17 shooting from distance.
Immediately coming out the half time, Anselem took a slash to the eye from Jordan Usher to leave the Dome gasping as he fell to the floor. Thankfully, he regrouped himself and stayed in the game. Swider then connected on his first three of the second to give Syracuse a 36-33 lead.
After Jimmy Boeheim got fouled and made two successful free throws, the Orange brought Sidibe back into the contest and subbed out Anselem after three minutes of play. Shortly after checking in, Sidibe picked up his third foul of the game making contact with Rodney Howard on a dunk attempt. Boeheim then signaled for Anselm to sub back in 26 seconds after subbing out of the game.
After Howard connected on his free-throw to narrow the Orange’s lead to two, Buddy Boeheim scored on back-to-back mid-range jumpers to put Syracuse up 42-38 heading into the first Yellow Jacket timeout of the half with 15:39 left in the game.
Following the timeout, the Yellow Jackets scored five straight points in under a minute and a half off a Howard tip-in and Michael Devoe's three-pointer to take a 43-42 lead over the Orange. Syracuse regained control off 4 straight Buddy Boeheim made free throws to take a 46-45 lead.
Swider started getting hot shortly after Syracuse took the lead, connecting on his 3rd three of the night to put the Orange up 49-45, leading to another yellow jacket timeout with 11:44 left in the contest.
Coming out of the Yellow Jackets timeout, both teams struggled, missing multiple shots consecutively, until Usher connected on a lay-up to narrow Syracuse’s lead to 49-47.
The Syracuse home crowd got rowdy after Howard connected on a lay-up and drew a foul, but got electric when Buddy Boeheim connected on a jumper for his 10th point of the game. The Yellow Jackets called their third timeout of the half following a shooting foul on Joe Girard with 7:41 left to play.
After Girard connected on both attempts from the charity stripe, Jordan Usher made a put-back dunk to narrow Syracuse’s lead to 1. Girard came back shortly after to hit a corner three and followed by a lay-up attempt that was rebounded by Swider for a lay-up, putting the Orange up 59-53 with 5:19 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets stayed persistent though, connecting on back-to-back three-pointers from Dallan Coleman to tie the game 59-59. Frank Anselm helped the Orange back to a lead after connecting on a layup, followed by Buddy Boeheim making a corner jump shot to put the Orange up four, 63-59.
A made free throw by the Yellow Jacket’s followed by Swider fouling Coleman from beyond the arc for three shots at the charity stripe seemed like another tie game was inevitable. However, with Coleman only connecting on two, Syracuse still had the lead intact, 63-62
Frank Anselem then fouled out of the game following a lay-up attempt from Jalon Moore. Symir Torrance was subbed in following Moore connecting on his first free-throw to tie the game 63-63, only to miss the second with 1:06 left in the game.
Coming out of a Syracuse timeout, Buddy Boeheim missed a jumper which led to a jump ball that ended up going the Yellow Jackets way. Following another Syracuse timeout, their defense forced a shot clock violation to get the ball back with 15.6 seconds remaining.
With the ball in Girard's on the potential final possession hands, he made a pass to Jimmy leading to a driving lay-up attempt, only to miss as time expired sending this game to overtime.
Straight into extra time, Devoe connected on a three only for Swider to make a three of his own to tie the game up once again, 66-66.
Following a Swider shooting foul on Howard, who connected on both attempts, Sidibe made an aggressive take to the basket to easily finish a lay-up through contact. Although a foul wasn't called despite contact, the Syracuse home fans let the refs hear it as a result.
Following a Swider missed jumper, Sidibe got the rebound a drew a foul for the chance to score two points. He went 1-2, enough to put Syracuse up 69-68 with 2:54 remaining in overtime.
Swider then picked up his third foul of the game, allowing Usher back to the line to make both free throws and take the lead 70-69. Buddy Boeheim then connected on a three from the right-hand corner followed by two Jimmy free throws putting the Orange up 74-70. However, the Yellow Jackets Kyle Sturdivant connected on a three to cut Syracuse's lead to one, leading to another timeout from the Orange with 1:25 left in the game.
Coming out of the timeout, Syracuse had three opportunities in one possession to score with under a minute left and missed all three chances. The Orange then forced a Yellow Jacket turnover with 22.4 seconds. However, after an extended official’s review of the play, the Yellow Jackets got possession of the ball. After three missed shots, a jump ball was forced with Georgia Tech owning possession. With 3.3 seconds remaining in the game, Devoe took a jumper after creating space from Buddy and missed it as Syracuse hung on for the 74-73 win.
The Orange were led by Jimmy Boeheim’s 20 points and 10 rebounds, his second straight double-double and fifth while playing for Syracuse. Cole Swider also had a huge game scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds
Next Up:
Syracuse takes the floor against Notre Dame at the Fighting Irish men’s home arena, the Joyce Centre, this Wednesday night (2/23) at 7 PM EST.
