Joe Girard III and Cole Swider scored 16 points apiece Saturday afternoon to help visiting Syracuse hold on for a 63-60 victory over Florida State at Tallahassee, Fla. in the Atlantic Conference opener for both teams.
The result ended Florida State's 25-game home winning streak in conference play, one shy of the league record set by Duke from 1997 to 2000.
Swider scored 11 points after halftime when Syracuse (5-3) outscored Florida State (5-3) and 39-28. Girard was 4-for-8 on 3-point shots for the Orange.
Jimmy Boeheim Jr added 13 and Jesse Edwards chipped in 11 as Syracuse survived Buddy Boeheim being held to six points.
Caleb Mills scored 16 points for the Seminoles, who shot a dreadful 28.1 percent in the second half as the game got away from them.
Despite the awful shooting Florida State had a chance to win in the final seconds.
Malik Osborne's 3-pointer brought FSU to within 61-60 with 42 seconds left. The Seminoles got the ball back with the chance to gain the lead, but with 11 seconds left Rayquan Evans was called for an offensive foul and Swider canned two free throws for Syracuse with 10 seconds left.
The game ended when Osborne missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Florida State held a 35-24 lead early in the second half but soon after, Syracuse ripped off 11 successive points for a 40-37 lead on Buddy Boeheim's layup with 13:02 left.
Syracuse extended that edge to 58-49 lead on Swider's 3-pointer with 4:14 left before holding on down the stretch.
--Field Level Media
Syracuse | Florida State | |
Joseph Girard III 16 | Scoring | Caleb Mills 16 |
Buddy Boeheim 5 | Assists | Anthony Polite 4 |
Jesse Edwards 12 | Rebounds | Malik Osborne 8 |
Jesse Edwards 3 | Free Throws Made | Malik Osborne 4 |
Joseph Girard III 2 | Steals | Caleb Mills 2 |
Jesse Edwards 2 | Blocks | Rayquan Evans 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Syracuse | 63 | 34.9 | 9-30 | 10-13 | 14 | 39 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
Florida State | 60 | 34.9 | 4-30 | 12-16 | 10 | 33 | 7 | 8 | 11 |