Syracuse holds on to beat Florida State 66-62 in 1st round of ACC Tournament

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — J.J. Starling scored 27 points, and Syracuse went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final five seconds to hold on for a 66-62 victory over Florida State in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Tuesday at the Spectrum Center.

The 14th-seeded Orange (14-18) advance to play No. 6 seed SMU in the second round on Wednesday.

Starling made 12 of 23 shots with three 3-pointers and five rebounds for Syracuse. Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 14 points and nine rebounds and Jyare Davis scored 14 with six boards.

Jamir Watkins had 16 points and 11 rebounds to pace the 11th-seeded Seminoles (17-15). Reserves Daquan Davis and Jerry Deng both scored 10.

Syracuse turned the ball over and Malique Ewin scored to get Florida State within a point with nine seconds left. Ewin fouled Kyle Cuffe Jr., who made both free throws for a three-point lead.

The Orange fouled Daquan Davis with two seconds left to prevent the Seminoles from taking a 3-pointer. Davis made the first, missed the second and Jyare Davis grabbed the rebound and was fouled before hitting two foul shots to seal it.

Lampkin scored 12 and grabbed six rebounds to help Syracuse take a 30-26 lead into halftime. Jyare Davis followed his layup with a 3 to give the Orange an 8-4 lead and they never trailed over the final 17 minutes.

Starling and Davis had the first two baskets of the second half to stretch the Syracuse lead to eight. Naheem McLeod’s dunk gave the Orange their largest lead at 50-34 with 13:15 remaining.

Florida State whittled away until Watkins was fouled on a 3-pointer and made three free throws to get the Seminoles within 62-59 with 48 seconds remaining.

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