New York State In-depth

Syracuse drops Heartbreaker en route to #17 Miami

(SU ATHLETICS) — Jesse Edwards led all scorers with a personal best of 25 points and 11 boards, but a late comeback from #17 Miami (15-3, 6-2) defeated Syracuse (12-7, 5-3) . 82-78, on Monday evenings.

Edward’s outstanding performance marked his ninth double-double of the season. Joseph Girard III (21 points) and Benny Williams (12) each dished out five assists.

A driving layup by Girard brought the orange within two from Miami, 78-80, with just four ticks left. Justin Taylor then fouled Beverly Harlond, who tied both shots for the canes. On SU’s last possession, Girard tried to drive to the hoop but was blocked by Norchard Omier when time was up.

Miami and Syracuse traded two layups to open the contest, Jordan Miller opened for the canes and Benny Williams scored his first field goal of the night in the first minute and a half

The Hurricanes followed with nine unanswered points to forge an 11-2 lead with 16 minutes in the opening frame. Isaiah Wong (3 points) was fouled beyond the arc and connected on all attempts at the line, and Nijel Pack sent a successful three-pointer to the basket that took over half the points from the canes. Syracuse had three turnovers in the first four minutes, and the Hurricanes scored on all of them.

Syracuse managed to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to two points four times. Mintz finished a three-point game with 5:55 before the break to put the Orange to a point ahead of Miami, 24-23. Justin Taylor followed up with a 3-ball to give SU their first lead of the contest. Then Girard capped a 9-0 stretch for Syracuse with a three-pointer of his own, making it a 29-24 contest.

Five minutes later, the Oranges went into the break with a 38-34 lead.

The Orange descended the track and shot .485 (16 of 33) out of the field in the second half compared to a .383 (13 of 34) clip in the opening image.

Syracuse veterans Edwards and Girard reinforced in the back half of the game. Edwards delivered 17 from 25 points and Girard collected 13 from 21 in the last 20 minutes of the game. The pair also gave the Orange their second-largest and highest advantage of the night, climbing as high as 11 points before Miami began to retaliate.

The Hurricanes were led by a double-double outing by Norchad Omier (16 points, 16 rebounds).
Girard (1,447 points) jumped past Trevor Cooney (1,437) for 31st on the Syracuse Career Scoring Index.
Girard counted a 3-pointer and adjusted his career total to 263, good for a tie with Joe Harris (UVA) in 24th place on the all-time ACC ledger.
Miami captured its 12th pairing of the all-time series (20-12) with the orange.
All nine Orange saw game time against Miami and contributed 2 or more points to the contest.
Girard collected his 15th double-digit appearance of the season.

The Orange head to the Flats for a showdown with Georgia Tech on Saturday, January 21st. Tipping time is scheduled for noon.

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