GREENSBORO, NC – – Reece Beekman hit a three-pointer as time passed to no. 16, Virginia, to assist Syracuse, 72-69, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Tournament.
Beekman did not hit a shot all day, but buried a 3 from the right wing from a feed from Kihei Clark as the horn sounded. This led to Beekman immediately jumping to the other side of the court with his teammates chasing him at full speed before finally gathering near the far baseline to celebrate.
That kept the Cavaliers (18-6) who selected the best, with an 11-game win in the back of the first half, while struggling to slow down Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim.
Sam Hauser scored 21 points to lead Virginia, making 4 of 5 3s to close out the game in the final 5 1/2 minutes.
Boeheim finished with a career high of 31 points for the eighth seeded Orange (16-9), a day after scoring 27 points in Syracuse’s tournament start. He nearly capped the Orange to another victory to help their NCAA Tournament chances, and he scored 11 of Syracuse’s last 13 points.
After Beekman’s shot fell, Boeheim stood near the middle, his hands on his knees in disbelief, while his teammate Quincy Guerrier crouched a few feet further.
LARGE PICTURE:
Syracuse: The Orange went into most NCAA projections near the cut-off point this week, though a win against fellow North Carolina bubble team helped Wednesday. Boeheim then said he thought the Orange had ‘done what we had to do this year’, but with a wait-and-see warning. The win of this would probably have removed all doubt on that front.
Virginia: The Cavaliers won the race of the regular season by beating Louisville after Florida’s no. 15 on the last day of the scheme in Notre Dame. It put the Cavaliers No. 1 for the fifth time in eight seasons when they won a third tournament under Tony Bennett. Hauser was big in this one and Trey Murphy III (15 points) left some big 3s, although Beekman was the hero on this day.
FOLLOWING
Syracuse: The Orange await their Sunday at the NCAA Tournament.
Virginia: The Cavaliers advanced to Friday’s semifinals to face the Miami-Georgia Tech winner.
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