Syracuse closes out the regular season with a much-needed win before ACC Tournament play.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It was Senior Day for the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program and it was the veterans that led the way in an 84-70 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers.
Eddie Lampkin finished with a double-double, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Lucas Taylor scored 15 points while Jyare Davis had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Jaquan Carlos had 5 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Syracuse (13-18, 7-13) snapped a six-game losing streak to Virginia (15-16, 8-12) in the process.
Adrian Autry made no changes to the usual starting five of Carlos, JJ Starling, Taylor, Davis and Lampkin. Virginia started 0-5 from three while Syracuse jumped out to an 8-2 lead by the first media timeout and never looked back.
Syracuse went into Lampkin down low, who already broke into double-figures by the second media timeout. Carlos assisted on four of his first five buckets. Davis nailed a three in the midst of Lampkin’s strong post play to give Syracuse a 17-10 lead at the 11:15 mark. Kyle Cuffe, Chris Bell, Naheem McLeod all checked in after the timeout. Petar Majstorovic checked in shortly thereafter.
Bell and McLeod got in on the offense as both completed three point plays on their first shots. As McLeod took his free throw following an and-one, Autry motioned to Carlos to send Cuffe over to him. Autry gave instructions to Cuffe with his hand over his mouth. From there, Cuffe picked up full court on Isaac McKneely, who had missed his first three shots and had three turnovers.
The bench players, along with Carlos, had established a 14 point lead. Autry reinserted the starters with 5:43 in the first half and continued to extend the lead. Taylor connected on a step-back three as the shot-clock wound down, Lampkin continued his persistent post play and Davis broke into double-figures just before the conclusion of the first half.
McKneely got a floater to fall before the half. Syracuse led 43-26 at the break. The Orange owned a 24-16 points in the paint edge. Syracuse had a 19-10 rebounding advantage and had 12 assists on 18 made baskets.
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Out of the half, Taylor connected on a pair of threes with a Lampkin three point play sandwiched in between. Virginia was able to get its offense going behind Elijah Saunders and Blake Buchanan. Syracuse held its 17-point lead at the first media timeout of the second half.
Autry gave the bench some early run in the second half, but quickly went back to the starters when Virginia cut into the lead following a Cuffe turnover. McLeod made his way back into the game for Lampkin with just over nine minutes remaining in the game. Virginia kept attacking the rim and putting pressure on Syracuse backline, drawing fouls in the process. McLeod threw down a dunk off a lob to make the score 67-51 and Lampkin checked back in with 7:37 to go.
Down the stretch Syracuse went back to the well of Lampkin, who continued to deliver around the rim and by drawing fouls. Taylor connected on an off-balance three with the shot-clock winding down and Davis scored — once on a layup and another on a dunk — to keep Virginia at bay. The Cavaliers tried to press, but failed to ever get the game to within single-digits or seriously threaten in crunch time.
Autry inserted walk-ons Anthony Clayton, Nate Fleisher, Chris Gatty and Noah Lobdell for the final 66 seconds. Clayon would get a pair of free throws to go down with 13.6 seconds left much to the joy of his teammates and cheers from the dome crowd.
There would be no collapse this time as Syracuse cruised to an smooth victory. Behind the play of its seniors, the Orange closed the final dome game on a sweet note to an otherwise sour season.
Next up
Syracuse will tip-off against Florida State in the ACC Tournament First Round as the No. 14 seed. That game tips at 7:00 pm Tuesday from Charlotte and airs on the ACC Network.