JJ Starling scored 28 points as Syracuse outlasted visiting Boston College 95-86 in three overtimes on Saturday.
Eddie Lampkin chipped in 14 points and 18 rebounds, and Jyare Davis (16 points) made some big buckets for Syracuse (11-13, 5-8 ACC), which had lost four of its last five games.
The Orange continued to play without second-leading scorer Donnie Freeman (foot), announcing prior to tip-off that the freshman forward will miss the remainder of the season.
Donald Hand Jr. scored 28 points and Joshua Beadle added 16 for Boston College (10-13, 2-10), which has lost eight of its last nine games. The Eagles missed their final nine shots from the field, including all six attempts in the third overtime.
Davis opened triple-overtime with two jumpers in the first minute. Starling added a layup shortly thereafter, before Lampkin and Chris Bell rounded out the scoring from the foul line.
Chad Venning’s three-point play with just under a minute left in the first overtime put Boston College up by a point. Starling had a chance to put Syracuse back in front, but he split two foul shots, leaving the teams tied at 76-76.
The Eagles scored the first seven points of double-overtime before the Orange rallied to get within 85-84 on Starling’s bucket with 32 seconds left.
Hand then missed two foul shots, opening the door for Starling, but the dynamic guard again was only able to make 1-of-2 free throws on the other end as the game went to triple-overtime.
Syracuse won despite shooting 18-of-32 from the foul line. Boston College wasn’t any better at 9-of-18.
The Eagles rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation. Hand brought the team within three with 12 seconds left, and then Fred Payne drilled a long 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
In the midst of Boston College’s late rally, Syracuse missed the front of a 1-and-1 three times, the final two by Starling. His miss from the line with five seconds left created the last-second opportunity for the Eagles to extend the game.
–Field Level Media
