Syracuse Blows Halftime Lead, Falls at Georgetown

Syracuse saw a 10 point halftime lead quickly evaporate in the second half and Georgetown made enough plays in the final minutes as the Orange fell 79-75 on Saturday. With the loss, Syracuse falls to 5-5 on the season. Next up for Syracuse is a home game against Lehigh on Saturday, December 18th.

The Orange and Hoyas went back and forth much of the first half. Syracuse got key contributions from Frank Anselem, Symir Torrence and Benny Williams off the bench. In the last 4:30 of the half, Syracuse outscored Georgetown 13-6 to take a 10 point lead into halftime.

The Hoyas responded to start the second half, however, scoring the first six points to trim the lead to just four. After the lead swayed between four and eight for a bit, Georgetown tied the game at 51 behind some stellar play from freshman Aminu Mohammed. A Donald Carey four point play (he was fouled by Jimmy Boeheim on a made three) gave Georgetown its first lead since midway through the first half.

The advantage would swell to as many as six with about 8:30 remaining. Syracuse would rally to take the lead back a few minutes later behind buckets from Buddy Boeheim, Cole Swider and Jimmy Boeheim to set up a dramatic finish.

After a Jimmy Boeheim tip-in, Kaiden Rice hit an off balanced three with 1:08 to go to give Georgetown a two point lead. Cole Swider would miss a three and the Hoyas would make free throws to seal the victory.

Georgetown made 11 of 26 three pointers (42%) and 18 of 21 free throws (86%) as key elements of the win. The Hoyas shot 56% in the second half, while Syracuse made just 36% of its shots. Mohammed led Georgetown with 23 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Carey and Rice combined for 33 points and nine made threes.

Buddy led five Syracuse players in double figures with 17 points. Joe Girard added 15 and seven assists, while Jimmy Boeheim was just 5-14 from the floor.