Syracuse led by 16 points at one point in the second half and gave it all back, save for one, then pulled out a win in the first round of the ACC Tournament over Florida State, 66-62. The Orange (14-18) took their first lead a little over two minutes into the action and were in front for over 38 minutes of the game, but needed to make four foul shots in the final ten seconds to escape the Seminoles (18-14) and advance to face SMU on Wednesday night.
14th-seeded SU took that 16-point lead courtesy of ten straight points before the second half was seven minutes old, but immediately gave those ten right back. They were able to fend off multiple pushes from 11-seed FSU, who did not get within a single possession until under a minute to play.
Syracuse got a lot of good work done inside, finishing with a 42-32 rebounding advantage, including 13 boards on the offensive end. They also finished with a 12-point advantage in points in the paint.
FSU jumped in front in the opening minutes, but Eddie Lampkin (six points) and Jyare Davis (five) propelled the Orange to a 12-4 burst that gave them a 15-8 advantage before the game was six minutes old. SU went into an offensive funk shortly after that run was over, suffering through over four minutes without a bucket, but their defensive effort helped them stretch their advantage to 21-12 with a little under nine minutes left in the opening half.
The Seminoles quickly erased most of that margin, though, posting seven straight points to start a 10-2 run. Florida State would tie the game, but J.J. Starling answered them with a midrange push shot and Lampkin powered inside for another score to put Syracuse back in front with a couple minutes until halftime. The Orange rode that to a 30-26 lead at the break.
Starling and Davis each scored at the rim as soon as the second half started to double the SU lead to eight. Three minutes later, a goaltend against the ‘Noles started a run of ten straight for Syracuse, closing with the exclamation point of Naheem McLeod hammering home an alley-oop from Jaquan Carlos for a 50-34 lead.
FSU came roaring back, scoring the game’s next ten points while holding the Orange scoreless for over six minutes to slice lead to 50-44. Starling finally broke through with a reverse layup, then quickly added another layup in transition to slow down the Seminoles and make it a ten-point game.
Florida State kept chipping away, however, halving the lead over the next two-and-a-half minutes to get within 56-51. Starling went to work, driving to the basket repeatedly after getting switches from Lampkin screens, and giving SU a 62-56 lead.
The ‘Noles got three foul shots, then a lay-up off a Syracuse turnover to pull within a single point with nine seconds remaining. Kyle Cuffe Jr. made a pair of foul shots, then Carlos fouled on the floor to send Daquan Davis to the line, who made the first and intentionally missed the second.
Jyare Davis rebounded for the Orange and was fouled with under a second to play. Two foul shots later, SU clinched a second-round appearance.
Starling led all scorers with 27 points, shooting 12-of-23 in the game. Davis and Lampkin each had 14 points on the night with the latter also grabbing nine rebounds. Lampkin accomplished most of his work in the first half, piling up 12 points and six rebounds before intermission.
Jamir Watkins paced FSU with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Daquan Davis and Jerry Deng also reached double digits with ten points apiece. Malique Ewin chipped in with eight.
----
Chat about this story and all things Syracuse and Syracuse recruiting on our premium message board, Cuse Classified!
Follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.
Tips/questions/concerns? E-mail Recruiting Analyst Charles Kang here.
Not a subscriber to The Juice Online? Join today for access to all our premium content and message board community.
