On Saturday afternoon, Boston College defeated Syracuse in overtime, 81-73. After controlling the opening tip, Syracuse nearly got off to a thunderous start with a well-designed look to get an alley-oop at the rim, but a nice read by Boden Kapke blew the play up. Nevertheless, Hastings got schooled by some good footwork, allowing the […]
On Saturday afternoon, Boston College defeated Syracuse in overtime, 81-73.
After controlling the opening tip, Syracuse nearly got off to a thunderous start with a well-designed look to get an alley-oop at the rim, but a nice read by Boden Kapke blew the play up. Nevertheless, Hastings got schooled by some good footwork, allowing the Orange to draw first blood. By the first media timeout, the Orange held an early 7-4 advantage. With BC’s guards struggling to create clean looks on the offensive end, it was Boden Kapke down low who provided the most consistent early offense, getting a couple righty hook shots to drop in off glass.
By the second media timeout, Syracuse had doubled its lead to six. Donnie Freeman scored an easy 5 early points, while the Eagles shot 26.7% from the field over the first ten minutes of the game. Following the timeout, though, both teams found points hard to come by. The Orange went over three minutes without a point, while BC went over four minutes without a field goal, only cashiering four Forte free throws. Forte finally got a field goal to go at the 6:50 mark, splashing an off-the-dribble three from the top of the key to give BC its first lead of the day at 19-18.
Syracuse answered back immediately with a quick 5-0 run, but Fred Payne stopped the bleeding by splashing a tough grenade at the end of the shot clock. On the next possession, he ripped the ball away from his man and found Aidan Shaw for an awesome alley-oop slam to get the crowed into the game. Syracuse answered immediately, with Donnie Freeman finishing through contact from Shaw for an and-1 bucket.
It was Syracuse who was able to seize back the game’s momentum, utilizing an 8-0 run to push the lead to 31-24. Once again, it was Payne who was able to jumpstart BC’s offense via a layup. Nevertheless, Syracuse took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
Luka Toews opened the second half for Boston College with a rhythm trey from the wing. Jayden Hastings, however, picked up two personals less than two minutes into the half, giving Syracuse a couple of free throws and a possession. Donnie Freeman continued to torch the Eagles’ defense, finishing another and-1 at the 16:55 mark to give the Orange a 39-33 lead. On the ensuing possession, BC finally generated a clean look for Fred Payne from 3 against the Orange’s zone defense, drawing the Eagles within four. Once again, however, just as it appeared BC was poised to make a run for the lead, the Orange detonated a nasty alley-cop to keep the Eagles at arm’s length.
Jayden Hastings finished a nice and-1 bucket under the basket to breathe more life in BC’s team, before Payne cashed his fourth three of the game to give BC a two-point lead with 11:13 to play. As was a theme throughout the game, Syracuse immediately answered to take back the lead. Hastings played cleanup underneath the basket, finishing an easy dunk, before some stingy team defense forced a shot-clock violation. With the score tied, Chase Forte drew a foul attacking the Orange’s zone defense.
Instead of capitalizing, BC instead conceded yet another and-1 bucket to restore a Syracuse 3-point lead. Two Donnie Freeman free throws pushed the lead to five, and Hand missed a fadeaway on the ensuing possession. Hand finally got a three to go, closing the gap to two with only 1:35 to play. BC was unable to force a stop, conceding an easy layup to Nate Kingz under the basket.
Fred Payne drew a foul on a loose ball on the next possession, and went 1/2 on his trip to the line. Chase Forte then drew a steal as the Orange crossed half court, putting his head down and looking to get to the rack before losing control and turning it over himself. He then got blindsided by an illegal Syracuse screen, giving BC possession with under a minute to play and a chance to tie the game — and all-too-familiar scenario for these Eagles. Out of the break, Forte attacked down hill and then kicked to a flaring Kapke, who found himself wide-open from downtown — but ultimately couldn’t connect.
Forty seconds later, the Eagles found another chance to tie the game down 3 with 17.2 seconds to play. Out of the timeout, Forte found Donald Hand Jr. — who absolutely splashed the trey to tie the game and send us to BC’s fourth overtime game of the year.
On the very first play of overtime, BC forced a stop and actually got out in transition. Fred Payne found a streaking Aidan Shaw, who absolutely detonated at the rim for a thunderous dunk. Then it was Hastings’ turn to obliterate the rim, this time on an alley-oop from Payne, while Donald Hand got in on the action by attacking the rack in transition for the layup to take the roof off of Conte and force a Syracuse timeout.
Syracuse, however, refused to go away. Out of the timeout, the Nate Kingz got to the rack and completed another and-1 to cut the Eagles’ lead to three. Forte drew a foul on the next possession, and cashed both free throws to restore a five-point lead. Two possessions later, Fred Payne perfectly read an Orange skip pass and picked it off, essentially sealing the game for the Eagles. BC finally found a way to win a close game, seeing out the Orange 81-73.
Category: General Sports
