A quick take on Syracuse’s 81-77 loss to Overseas Elite in the Final Four of The Basketball Tournament in Baltimore:
WHAT HAPPENED: Trailing by as many as nine points midway through the second half, Boeheim’s Army pulled to within four with 1:50 to go after Trevor Cooney drilled a 3-pointer. They would pull to within the same margin again at 75-71 with 41 seconds left after a layup plus a foul from Eric Devendorf. But Syracuse could get no closer than that, with several costly errors in the final minute hurting their chances at the $2 million final prize. Overseas Elite remains undefeated (18-0) in the 3-year history of The Basketball Tournament.
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ANALYSIS: Overseas Elite had the perfect kind of squad to patiently attack the vaunted 2-3 zone. Elite put D.J. Kennedy in the free throw area, and he responded with 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Once installed at the top of the key, he was able to find shooters Errick McCollum (5-7 from 3) and DeAndre Kane (2-3). Kane’s 3-pointer with about 90 seconds left gave Elite the cushion it needed at 75-68. Overall, Overseas was 10-21 from distance and shot 47.2 percent overall.
HERO: Eric Devendorf led Boeheim’s Army with 24 points on 8-12 shooting, and got 10 points and seven rebounds from CJ Fair. McCollum led Overseas with 18 points.
ZERO: Donte Greene shot just 1-6, the last two shots coming midway through the second half that were contested. James Southerland, who single-handedly rallied the Orange against Team FOE in the round of 8, shot just 2-9 and 1-5 from beyond the arc.
WHAT’S NEXT: Overseas Elite will face Team Challenge ALS in the finals. Challenge ALS topped Scarlet and Gray, 88-83, in the other game earlier in the night in double overtime.
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