Christmas Closes For ‘Cuse In 86-83 OT Victory

Tuesday, January 13

Syracuse, N.Y.

8:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

(13-4) (4-0)

Wake Forest

(9-9) (1-4)

OT 1

Wake Forest

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

Christmas Closes For ‘Cuse In 86-83 OT Victory

1/13/2015 10:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Rakeem Christmas finished with a career-best 35 points en route to Syracuse’s 86-83 victory

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Rakeem Christmas capped off his career best 35-point performance with four clutch free throws down the stretch to help Syracuse (13-4, 4-0 ACC) defeat Wake Forest (9-9, 1-4 ACC), 86-83, in overtime. Syracuse extends its winning streak to seven games, it remains undefeated in the ACC and the Orange is now 10-1 in the Carrier Dome this season.

The 35-point effort by Christmas is the best scoring performance by an ACC player this season. His performance was complemented by 21-points from Trevor Cooney and 17 from Michael Gbinije. Syracuse is now 10-2 when Christmas and Cooney score in double-figures and tonight's game is the first time this season both have scored 20 points or more.

'Cuse Has A Big Three.
The trio of, Christmas, Gbinije and Cooney scored Syracuse's final 28 points of the game to seal the victory. Christmas executed down the stretch despite having four fouls for the final eight minutes of play.

Gbinije corralled 11 boards, giving him his third double-double of the season and his third in the last four contests. Cooney continued to shoot with accuracy from three-point range, hitting five on the night. He now has 12 threes and 49 points in the last two games.

Tyler Roberson got the nod at forward along with Gbinije and attacked the boards for 10 boards and his fourth game with 10 or more boards.

The Makings Of A Classic
Cooney opened the contest with a three, sparking a 15-5 lead in the opening five minutes of action. The catalyst was the fuel as well in the surge, providing seven points in the stretch. Trailing the Orange by 10, Wake Forest found a scorer in 6-10 freshman, Konstantinos Mitoglou. Mitoglou powered a 19-6 run with 12 points to his credit to give the Demon Deacons a 23-21 lead with 6:58 until the break.

From that moment on it was a grind through the final seconds of the half featuring two tie scores and six lead changes. It appeared 'Cuse was going into the half with a two-point lead but Codi Miller knocked down a last second three from near half court to give the Demon Deacons a 37-36 lead at the break.

Christmas and Cooney were the go-to guys on the offensive end once again for 'Cuse as together they accounted for 27 of Syracuse's points in the first half. Christmas tied his half-high this season of 14 points, contributing to Syracuse's 18 points in the paint at intermission.

The Dog Fight Continues
The Demon Deacons picked up right where it left off, out-scoring Syracuse 14-5 in the opening four minutes of the latter half. However, Syracuse used an 8-0 rebuttal, powered by a pair of threes from Gbinije and Ron Patterson, to pull within one of Wake Forest. The run by 'Cuse then provoked a 6-0 run by Wake Forest to take a 56-49 lead with 12:09 to go.

Christmas led the Orange in its response to the Demon Deacon run with four points in a 9-2 run to tie the game at 58 with 6:42 left but Wake Forest refused to let up its lead until Trevor Cooney found his stroke from beyond the arc in the final stanza.

Cooney made two threes in a 9-3 burst capped off by a Gbinije layup to give the Orange its first lead of the second half with a 67-65 score. Each team traded buckets until Wake Forest had possession with just over 35-seconds left and trailing by one. The Demon Deacons came up short on a jumper, forcing them to foul Gbinije on the ensuing possession.

Gbinije made both free throws, giving Syracuse a three-point lead with 23 ticks on the clock. Needing a three, Cornelius Hudson answered the call to action with a three from the top of the key for Wake Forest tying the game at 71 with 14 seconds remaining. With time winding down, Gbinije took the ball up court and found a seam in the Demon Deacon defense but his layup rolled off the rim, sending the game into overtime.

Christmas Comes Through, Closes The Door
Both teams traded buckets in the first three minutes with neither team gaining any ground until Gbinije dropped five points in a row with two minutes remaining to give the Orange a three-point lead.

The Orange maintained its three-point advantage until Wake Forest took advantage of Syracuse's pair of misses at the free throw line with 23 seconds left by laying one in to cut the lead to one with 18 seconds to go.

With the lead in jeopardy, Christmas made four free throws in a row to extend Syracuse's lead to five with nine seconds remaining. Facing defeat, Wake Forest's Codi Miller was right on target with a three from the top of the key to pull within two. Trevor Cooney was then forced to go to the line with three seconds remaining, making one to solidify the three-point victory.