Boston College Men's Basketball Picks up First ACC Win in Overtime Thriller vs. Syracuse

Fred Payne led the Eagles with 26 points.

Boston College men's basketball guard Fred Payne celebrating a 3 against Syracuse. John Sexton / Boston College Eagles On SI | John Sexton / Boston College Eagles On SI

After a blowout 74-50 loss against No. 22 Clemson on Tuesday, BC men's basketball returned to Conte Forum on Saturday afternoon, eventually picking up an 81-73 victory.

Freshly Squeezed 🍊 pic.twitter.com/hDYENJE90n

— BC Men's Basketball (@BCMBB) January 17, 2026

At the first media timeout, Syracuse held a 7-4 lead over BC with William Kyle III scoring four early points.

Out of the timeout, the Orange began to get some separation, taking a 15-6 lead on an and-one layup from Donnie Freeman with 12:42 remaining.

Fred Payne knocked down BC’s first three-pointer of the game with 11:50 left, pulling BC to within six points. The Eagles struggled to knock down shots at the game’s inception, heading into the under-12 media timeout shooting just 4/14 from the field and trailing 17-11.

After going scoreless and taking just three shots against No. 22 Clemson on Tuesday night, Donald Hand Jr. struggled with foul trouble in the first half, picking up his second foul of the game with 9:09 left.

The Eagles’ defense stepped up halfway through the opening half, not allowing a field goal for over four minutes. Syracuse led 18-15 with 7:33 remaining.

The Eagles took the lead on a three-pointer from Chase Forte with 6:57 to go until halftime. 

Conte Forum came alive with just under four minutes in the first half after Fred Payne ripped the ball from the Syracuse player and threw a transition lob to Aidan Shaw for a slam. The dunk gave BC a 24-23 advantage. Freeman responded with an and-one layup as the energetic Orange fans roared back at the home crowd.

The Orange closed the opening half strong, heading into the break with a 33-28 lead. BC shot just 8/28 from the field in the first half. Payne topped the Eagles with eight points at the intermission.

Syracuse took a 42-35 lead at the first media timeout of the second half. 

The Eagles went on an 11-2 extended run, taking a 46-44 advanatge with 11:56 left. 

Nate Kingz killed the Eagles from deep range all afternoon. His fifth three-pointer put the Orange up four points with just under 10 minutes remaining. He added a big and-one layup to put the Orange up three with 4:54 left.

The Eagles struggled to find quality looks late, finding itself in a scoring drought that lasted over three and a half minutes. Kapke ended the drought with a hook layup to bring the Eagles within five points.

Hand Jr. hit his first three-pointer of the game to bring BC back within two points with 1:48 left. 

With 42 seconds left, Kapke missed an open three-pointer that would have tied the game for the Eagles.

BC was able to get the ball back with 17.2 seconds remaining down three points after a missed free throw from Freeman and Hand Jr. hit a three-pointer off of a screen to send the teams to overtime tied at 64.

"They say real men are built in adversity," Hand Jr. said after the game. "We've been through a lot of adversity these past two years so it feels really good to come out on top."

Jayden Hastings and Shaw both rocked the overtime period with huge jams as BC took a six-point lead with just over two minutes left, forcing Syracuse to call timeout.

The Eagles closed out an 81-73 victory with free throw making down the stretch.

"I'm really happy we were able to not only win, but win playing BC basketball," said head coach Earl Grant. "Now we just gotta try to build on it and continue to get ready for the next battle that's coming up."

The Eagles will return to Conte Forum on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET to take on Pittsburgh.