Story and photo by Jessica Eley
Syracuse, N.Y. - The Syracuse Orange defeated the Boston College Eagles 69-61,Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome, despite losing one its most consistent players to foul trouble for nearly half the game.Senior center Rakeem Christmas played just 23 minutes before fouling out late in the second half, but SU head basketball coach, Jim Boeheim, said other players stepped up.
“First time in a long time that Rak had really big foul trouble. and i thought Mike (Gbinije) really...Mike and Trevor (Cooney) at the end of the first half really took over. I thought they just played great," Boeheim said.
All five starters Gbinije, Tyler Roberson, Christmas, Cooney and Kaleb Joseph scored in double digits.
All five starters Gbinije, Tyler Roberson, Christmas, Cooney and Kaleb Joseph scored in double digits.
Eagles start fast
Boston College (8-9, 0-5 ACC) jumped to a quick 9-2 lead in the first half on a pair of 3-point shots by Aaron Brown and a third by Dimitri Batten..
Boston College (8-9, 0-5 ACC) jumped to a quick 9-2 lead in the first half on a pair of 3-point shots by Aaron Brown and a third by Dimitri Batten..
BC led until Christmas put the Orange (14-5, 5-1 ACC) ahead 15-13 with a layup at the 10:37 mark. The Eagles were never regained the lead.
Christmas went on to score three more points, extending SU's lead to 18-13. Although he led SU in points in the first half, he also managed to get into foul trouble, going to the bench with his third at the 4:42 mark.
Christmas went on to score three more points, extending SU's lead to 18-13. Although he led SU in points in the first half, he also managed to get into foul trouble, going to the bench with his third at the 4:42 mark.
The junior guard, Gbinije was second in scoring in the first half with nine points. "We came out with a win," Gbinije said. "I was aggressive tonight and hopefully we can continue that."
The half ended on a hustling layup by Cooney after a Gbiniije miss, giving the Orange an 18-point advantage at 35-17.
Christmas sits
The Eagles closed the gap early in the second half and Christmas picked up his fourth personal foul. He then sat out for more than ten minutes before reentering the game. Seldom-used center Chinoso Obokoh played 16 minutes filling in.
"The idea was to protect the lead, knowing Rak could be out at any time," Boeheim said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of that."
The Orange increased its lead from nine points to ten with Christmas on the bench.
Orange Trouble at the line
SU missed capitalizing on points by only made 8 out of 16 from the free throw line with under two minutes to go and Christmas fouling out with only 1:51 left to go in the game almost cost The Orange.
"You gotta make your foul shots, you gotta make better plays in that situation and we didn't do that," Boeheim said.
BC got within six points, but that wasn't enough. A field goal from Cooney and two points from Joseph at the foul line ended the game for the Eagles.
SU is in third place in the ACC with the win against Boston College.
"The idea was to protect the lead, knowing Rak could be out at any time," Boeheim said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of that."
The Orange increased its lead from nine points to ten with Christmas on the bench.
Orange Trouble at the line
SU missed capitalizing on points by only made 8 out of 16 from the free throw line with under two minutes to go and Christmas fouling out with only 1:51 left to go in the game almost cost The Orange.
"You gotta make your foul shots, you gotta make better plays in that situation and we didn't do that," Boeheim said.
BC got within six points, but that wasn't enough. A field goal from Cooney and two points from Joseph at the foul line ended the game for the Eagles.
SU is in third place in the ACC with the win against Boston College.
Up next, the Orange faces the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Dome.
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