Syracuse’s big three of Jesse Edwards, Joe Girard III, and Judah Mintz took over late at Boston College, scoring 19 of the team’s final 21 points in the last eight minutes to change a 59-56 deficit into a 77-68 win. Mintz had seven while Edwards and Girard each scored a half dozen to push the Orange (14-10, 7-6 ACC) into the win column.
Edwards’ effort capped off a career-best night, as he connected on 12-of-15 shots from the floor to pour in a personal-best 27 points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and blocking four shots. The effort was particularly noteworthy in that much of his damage was done against Quentin Post of the Eagles (11-13, 5-8), a friend going back to their respective childhoods in the Netherlands.
Girard struggled dialing in his shot from the floor for the third straight game, but made hay at the foul line, making all nine of his free throw attempts for half his 18-point output. Mintz also supplemented his output at the stripe, going 7-for-9 there as part of his 15 points. Justin Taylor gave SU a jolt off the bench, connecting three times from beyond the arc for his nine points.
While trying to slow down Edwards, Post was also quite effective on the offensive end, pacing BC with 18 points. Jaeden Zackery and Makai Ashton-Langford each connected for three triples en route to tallying 14 and 11 points, respectively. Prince Aligbe and Mason Madsen each added eight to the Boston College ledger.
The first half was tightly contested, as neither side led by more than four points. Both teams held the lead in the opening minutes and Syracuse grabbed the largest early advantage on a Mintz jumper and a pair of Girard foul shots for a 16-12 lead just under seven-and-a-half minutes into the game.
Neither side put together consecutive scores again until the Orange did so with under six minutes left in the opening half, getting layups from Edwards and Mintz for a 26-21 lead. Boston College immediately struck back with an 8-1 run to grab a 29-27 edge, but SU responded with an 8-3 burst to take a 35-32 advantage at halftime.
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That lead was extended to five points twice in the opening two minutes of the second half, but the Eagles scored seven straight points for a 41-39 lead that led Jim Boeheim to call a time out. The break worked, as Syracuse responded with the game’s next ten points, including a pair of triples from Taylor, the latter building an eight-point Orange lead with six minutes off the clock.
BC rose to that challenge, as well, scoring 12 of the next 16 points to knot the score at 53 a side, then continued to have the better of play, taking a 59-56 lead with a little over eight-and-a-half minutes left. SU deployed the last run of the night, rattling off ten straight markers to take control.
Edwards wrapped a pair of baskets around a pair of free throws from Mintz, then Maliq Brown added two more foul shots. Girard capped the spree with a jump shot and Syracuse held a 66-59 lead with under five minutes remaining.
The hosts shaved a deuce off the gap, but Mintz scored, then set up an Edwards dunk for the largest Orange lead of the game at 70-61. BC would get within a half dozen, but SU went 7-of-8 from the stripe in the final minutes to keep the game in hand.
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