Donnie Freeman, Syracuse stave off Florida State’s challenge
Donnie Freeman scored 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting to highlight Syracuse's 94-86 home victory over Florida State on Tuesday.
Tyler Betsey knocked down 6 of 8 3-point attempts en route to 18 points for the Orange (12-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Naithan George dished out 13 assists to go with eight points. J.J. Starling chipped in with 15 points for Syracuse, which has won six of its past seven games.
Florida State (7-10, 0-4) was coming off a 113-69 home loss to North Carolina State and delivered a much sharper effort in this one. However, the Seminoles still allowed the Orange to shoot 59.7% from the field and 40.7% from beyond the arc while falling for the ninth time in 11 games.
Kobe MaGee led Florida State with 20 points, while Martin Somerville had 16 points off the bench. Robert McCray V contributed 14 points but also committed half of his team's 14 turnovers, and Lajae Jones scored 13 points.
After leading by three points at halftime, Syracuse scored the first seven points of the second half. Freeman began that push with a three-point play before William Kyle III (11 points) threw down back-to-back slams to make it 50-40.
The Orange still held a 10-point advantage before the Seminoles reeled off eight straight points to get within 57-55. Shortly thereafter, Somerville's 3-pointer with 13:36 left brought Florida State into a 61-61 tie.
The Seminoles led by a point with 9:47 to play before Betsey's 3-pointer ignited an 8-0 run by the Orange.
The game got close in the final minute before George's alley-oop to Kyle with 28 seconds left essentially sealed the outcome.
Florida State jumped out to an 11-3 lead, although Syracuse caught up at 26-26. The Seminoles regained a 36-30 advantage after two MaGee 3-pointers before the Orange answered with 13 of the next 15 points.
Betsey made two 3-pointers during that surge and Freeman added one to put the hosts in front 43-38 with under a minute left in the half.
Alex Steen dunked on the other end, bringing the visitors within 43-40 at intermission.
Betsey led all scorers with 12 points at the break.