Orange Edges #18 Clemson, 55-52

Saturday, March 3

2 PM

Syracuse University

Clemson

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

3/3/2018 5:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett each scored 17 points to lead Syracuse (19-12, 8-10 ACC) to a 55-52 victory over No. 18 Clemson (22-8, 11-7 ACC) in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday, March 3 at the Carrier Dome.

The 28,670 fans in attendance, which marked the largest on-campus crowd in college basketball this season, watched as Battle (14) and Brissett (11) combined for 25 of the Orange's 33 second-half points.

Frank Howard added 11 points and Marek Dolezaj had eight in the victory.

The triumph was the Orange's second in a row against the Tigers and marked the third consecutive pairing between the teams decided by three points or less.

Clemson's Marcquise Reed netted a game-high 21 points, while Elijah Thomas scored 18 for the Tigers.

HOW IT WAS DECIDED
In a matchup that featured nine ties and 11 lead changes, Syracuse scored six of the final eight points to escape with the victory.

Following a jumper by Thomas that gave Clemson a 50-49 advantage with less than four minutes remaining, Brissett and Paschal Chukwu combined for five free throws to put Syracuse ahead 54-50 with 1:30 to play.

The Tigers drew within two on a layup by Reed with 44 seconds remaining, and Clemson had a chance to tie or take the lead with less than 10 seconds to go. Reed drove the lane, but his layup with four ticks on the clock was blocked by Brissett. The ball bounced out of bounds off a Clemson player and Syracuse gained possession.

On the inbounds, Dolezaj was fouled. He made the first free throw, but missed the second. Shelton Mitchell grabbed the rebound for Clemson and pushed the ball up to Gabe DeVoe whose desperation heave from just inside halfcourt rimmed out.

GAME SUMMARY
The Orange took their first lead of the game on a nifty drive to the basket by Dolezaj at the 16:36 mark of the first half. The hoop was part of a 12-2 run that put the hosts in front 14-7 with 10:21 left in the opening stanza.

With both teams struggling from the field, the Tigers worked their way back into the game on the strength of seven free throws, and tied the score 16-16 on a jumper by Aamir Simms with 4:55 to play before intermission.

Battle ended a nearly eight-minute, field-goal drought for Syracuse with a 3-pointer that gave the Orange a 19-18 margin. However, the Tigers tallied seven of the half's last 10 points to pull ahead 25-22 at the break.

After scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half, Battled tallied Syracuse's first eight points of the second frame to knot the game at 30-all. A three-point play by Brissett pushed the Orange back in front, 33-30, less than four minutes into the period.

Another Battle bucket resulted in a seven-point Syracuse advantage (43-36), but the Tigers roared back with seven straight points of their own to even things up again with 9:21 to go.

Neither team led by more than four the rest of the way.

OF NOTE
With his 17 points, Battle eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career. Battle, who now has 1,006 points, is the 62nd 1,000-point scorer in the history of Syracuse basketball, a total that ranks fifth among Division I programs. Entering the 2017-18 season, the only schools with more were North Carolina (76), Duke (67), Louisville (67) and Villanova (63).

The Syracuse defense held the Tigers without a field goal for a stretch of 10:01 in the first half. Clemson turned the ball over three times and was 0-for-9 from the field during that span.

Chukwu recorded four of the Orange's seven blocks in the game, matching his season high in ACC play. Chukwu also had four rejections against Wake Forest, Notre Dame and North Carolina.

Syracuse overcame a halftime deficit to win for just the second time this season. The Orange are now 2-10 under that scenario, with their only other victory coming Dec. 16 at Georgetown. The Orange trailed 28-24 at the break against the Hoyas.

Saturday's triumph was the Orange's first of the year against a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. Syracuse was previously 0-6 in such games.

The Orange connected on 17-of-20 (.850) free-throw attempts. Brissett led the charge at the charity stripe, knocking down 8-of-9 tries. Meanwhile, Clemson hit 11 of its 16 foul shots (.688).

At halftime, Lawrence Moten's No. 21 jersey was retired. The all-time leading scorer in Syracuse and BIG EAST history, Moten tallied 2,334 points for the Orange from 1991-95.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Orange are the No. 11 seed in the 2018 New York Life ACC Tournament and will play No. 14 seed Wake Forest in a first-round game Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The winner will play North Carolina in the second round on Wednesday at 9 p.m. The complete tournament bracket was released by the ACC on Sunday.