The Streak Continues: ‘Cuse Defeats BC, 70-56

Wednesday, February 11

Chestnut Hill, MA

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

7-416-8; ACC

Boston College

1-109-14; ACC

Syracuse

Boston College

2/11/2015 8:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

With the 70-56 vistory against the Eagles, Syracuse clinches its 44th consecutive winning season.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Michael Gbinje leads with 21 points, while Kaleb Joseph and B.J. Johnson combined for 26 in Syracuse's 70-56 victory against Boston College (9-14, 1-10 ACC). The triumph seals 44-straight winning seasons for the Orange (16-8, 7-4 ACC), which stands as the longest active streak in Division-I.

The Orange made the most of its nine boards on the offensive end to outscore Boston College, 12-2 in second chance opportunities. Johnson tallied all of Syracuse's 12 points off the bench, out-performing the Eagles' reserves, 12-4.

'Cuse Gets A Lift From Joseph And Johnson
Joseph finished tying a career-best 14 points, with 12 in the second half. Johnson recorded a career-best four three-pointers in the win, leading to his 12 points off the bench. Gbinije led the Orange, posting his third game with 20 points or more. Trevor Cooney added 15 points, including three buckets from beyond the arc.

Rakeem Christmas grabbed 10 rebounds and Gbinije had seven rebounds. Gbinije and Joseph each dished out four assists, while Gbinije also picked the pockets of the Eagles for four steals.

Back-And-Forth In Boston
Syracuse and Boston College exchanged baskets for most of the first half until Syracuse gained some ground with a 13-4 run to take a 23-15 lead with 7:55 left in the opening half. Needing to make a move, Boston College used an 8-3 burst to cut the lead to two with 54-seconds remaining in the stanza, but a bucket with five seconds left by Christmas gave Syracuse a 28-24 lead heading into the locker room.

Gbinije paced the Orange with nine points in the half and dished out three assists in the midst of his 4-of-5 performance from the field. Cooney and B.J. Johnson each knocked down a pair of threes and combined for five rebounds and two assists. Christmas was held to a quite four points but battled for six boards and denied two shot attempts by the Eagles.

'Cuse Controls The Second Half
The game continued to be an even contest until Syracuse once again distanced itself from the Eagles with a 10-4 run, bringing it to a 52-44 game with 8:40 to go. 'Cuse didn't let up after Boston College fought back a bit. The Orange outscored the Eagles 16-4 with Cooney scoring the final seven points down the stretch to finish the game with a 70-56 victory.