Clemson Basketball squeaks by Syracuse

It was yet another dramatic ending to a Clemson Basketball game that the Tigers led for much of. Still, in the end, Brad Brownell’s team was able to hang on and secure an opening ACC win with a victory over the Syracuse Orange.

The Tigers opened up a 12-3 lead at the first TV timeout thanks to some stout defense and good early shooting from RJ Godfrey and Carter Welling. Coming out of the timeout, Syracuse ramped up the pressure with a tighter half-court zone, and Clemson went cold until the under-12 timeout, outscored 8-4 by the Orange during the stretch. The Tigers also picked up a few more fouls in the process. Their shooting from 3-point territory was abysmal, missing several open shots, but on the other end, Syracuse struggled to convert just as much. Clemson led 23-18 at the under-8 media timeout.

At the 6:38 mark in the first half, Syracuse took their first lead on a Naithan George three-pointer, and the two teams traded buckets for the remainder of the half. Clemson committed two shot-clock violations in part to the stingy Syracuse defense (and a lack of efficiency running the offense), but a two-for-one opportunity to end the half gave Clemson the 29-28 halftime edge, despite the 1-10 start from the three-point line. It felt like Clemson shot poorly, and they did, but the Orange’s 35% shooting from the floor was actually worse than the Tigers. The big difference was Syracuse getting to the foul line, hitting 9 of their 12 free throws, while Clemson managed just three free-throw attempts in the half.

Clemson jumped out fast in the second half behind better shooting, taking a 36-32 lead into the under-16 timeout. RJ Godfrey continued to give Syracuse trouble in the paint, and some lousy ball movement by Syracuse quickly led to an 8-point lead for Clemson, which resulted in a Syracuse timeout. The Tigers would largely outplay the Orange for the next 10 minutes, stretching the lead to as high as 10 points. In typical 2025 fashion, though, Clemson could not hold that kind of lead.

Syracuse cut the lead to 4 with under two minutes to go, and the Tigers did respond with a Jestin Porter layup, but the Orange scored on back-to-back possessions to trim Clemson’s lead to 63-61 with 41 seconds to play. It was a story that Tiger fans have seen one too many times this season, and the question of whether Clemson could hold on was in play.

Clemson got the ball with 42 seconds left, and after killing some time, Dillon Hunter’s drive to the basket was blocked by William Kyle III, and the Tigers had just four seconds to inbound and get a shot off before the shot-clock violation. After some hesitation, Hunter got the ball into Carter Welling, who was fouled by Donnie Freeman and sent to the line for two. After making the first, Welling left the door open for drama by missing the second. Up 64-61, Syracuse had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime. Freeman had the hot hand in the second half, and in his first game in over a month, it was no surprise he was going to take the last shot. With nine seconds left, Freeman’s three-point attempt sailed right off the rim, and despite the offensive rebound, the Orange turned the ball over, and the Tigers were able to run out the clock after a tedious last-second foul call.

It was a dramatic ending to another game that Clemson seemed to have in hand. It appears that this may just be the type of team Brownell has on his hands this year, which could boast well down the stretch, or could be a liability. RJ Godfrey finished with a team-high 14 points and 4 rebounds. Dillon Hunter finished with 10 points and 2 rebounds himself.

The Tigers will keep their road trip up north going this weekend when they visit Pitt. Tipoff is set for noon on The CW Network.