#9 Orange Loses, 65-60, to #6 Boston College

Box Score

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - #9 Syracuse (22-5, 9-4) lost its second-straight game to a ranked BIG EAST opponent, falling 65-60, at #6 Boston College (22-1, 11-1) on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Conte Forum.

SU played from behind much of the first stanza until Hakim Warrick gave the Orange its first lead of the contest at the 2:30 mark, 25-24. Boston College retook the lead, 27-25, when Jared Dudley sunk his first three of contest with 2:03 remaining.

The Orange then used a 4-0 run during the last two minutes of the first half to give Syracuse a two-point halftime advantage, 29-27. The Orange was trailing, 27-25, with 1:03 to play when Nate Doornekamp was called for a technical foul. McNamara made both from the charity stripe and Josh Pace added a jumper in the lane with 41 seconds left.

Boston College began the second half on a 7-0 run, and the Orange was outscored 12-2 during the first five minutes of the second period. Syracuse trailed by its largest margin, nine, 44-35, with 12:54 to play.

At the 13:37 mark of the second half, Louis Hinnant fouled out of the game for Boston College after getting called for a technical foul. Syracuse responded with a 10-4 run during the next four minutes to narrow the deficit to two, 45-43.

The Orange trailed by six, 58-52, with 1:15 left in the contest when Louie McCroskey made one from behind the arc to pull Syracuse within one possession. Syracuse sent Dudley to the line, where he went 2-for-2, and increased the margin to five, 60-55 with 53 seconds left. McNamara made his second three-pointer of the game with 38.1 seconds remaining to narrow the lead, 60-58.

Jermaine Watson went 1-of-2 from the line for the Eagles, to keep it a one-basket contest with 36.7 to play. McNamara missed a three-pointer and Pace got the rebound and the put back, bringing the Orange within one, 61-60, with 27.4 left. Watson went 4-of-4 from the free throw line during the final stretch to hold back the Orange.

McNamara finished with 18 points, while Pace had 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and had five assists. Warrick scored 12 for the Orange, and McCroskey tied his career-high with seven rebounds.

Craig Smith led Boston College with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Dudley scored 21 points.

Syracuse was out-rebounded, 44-31, in the contest.

SU returns home to the Carrier Dome on Wednesday, Feb. 23 when it faces St. John's at 7:00 p.m.