Syracuse’s final shot was one of desperation, but that hadn’t stopped it from going in before.
 
With six seconds left against Boston College, Trevor Cooney, who had made just one 3-pointer in the game, chucked up an off-balance 3 from the top of the key. Only this time there was no improbable swish, just the clang of leather on iron.
 
The final seconds, which have been so kind to Syracuse this season, finally betrayed the Orange.

In the last 30 seconds alone, C.J. Fair missed a jumper, Tyler Ennis nearly committed a boneheaded turnover and Cooney bricked a potential game-tying 3.
 
“We should’ve had two or three more losses the last three games,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said, “but we’ve just made unbelievable, tough plays at the end of games and the other teams miss shots or make mistakes.”
 
On Wednesday, though, Boston College (7-19, 3-10 Atlantic Coast) made those plays. Olivier Hanlan scored a game-high 20 points, including a momentum-swinging 3 to start overtime, and Lonnie Jackson — a 56-percent free-throw shooter — went 4-for-4 down the stretch to ice the Eagles’ 62-59 overtime win and hand the top-ranked Orange (25-1, 12-1) its first loss of the season. 

The Carrier Dome crowd — 26,716 on this night — so used to erupting into celebration at the final buzzer was rendered silent.

“You can’t expect to pull all these games out, especially when the momentum and everything is on the other team’s side,” Fair said. “It’s very difficult what we’ve done in the past, pulling these games out, and this one just shows that you can’t pull them all out.”

BC’s stunning upset — perhaps the biggest of the season — ends the Orange’s program-record 25-game winning streak and 46-game win streak against unranked teams in the Dome.

And even after a slow start, it looked as if both of those streaks would continue. Despite an abysmal offensive first half, SU took an eight-point lead into the break that quickly stretched to 13 after Syracuse scored on its first two possessions.

But the Orange’s defense lost its edge, and its offense reverted back to its mediocre self. SU shot just 30.4 percent from the field in the second half, while Boston College shot 52.2 percent and went 7-for-12 from beyond the arc.

Leading the way was Hanlan, who went just 1-for-5 in the first half and missed all three of his 3-point attempts.

The sophomore point guard hit a trio of early second-half triples as Syracuse watched an 11-point lead evaporate to five.

“He’s just a really good player,” said SU guard Tyler Ennis of his fellow Canadian. “He’s able to facilitate, he’s able to score, so he’s a tough person to guard out there.

“If he gets it going, their whole team is going to get it going.”

Hanlan didn’t hit another 3 for the rest of regulation, but he didn’t need to. He found Joe Rahon for a 3 with 8:53 remaining to cut the lead to two, and two-plus minutes later he found Rahon in the corner for a 3 to put the Eagles up four.

Once again, the Orange needed a comeback. Ennis scored back-to-back buckets to tie the game, and gave Syracuse a chance to win in regulation with a long offensive rebound off his own missed layup.

But with two seconds left, Rakeem Christmas’ hook shot rimmed out.

“He should have gone to the basket. That’s not the right play,” Boeheim said. “You’ve got to make that, but you’re not going to make all those plays.”

SU got its chances in overtime, too, but the usually infallible Orange was uncharacteristically unable to convert.

After Hanlan and Patrick Heckmann sunk back-to-back 3-pointers to start overtime, Syracuse again found itself in a four-point hole. And, again, it had the chances to dig out of it.

A block by Ennis set up a runout for Fair the other way. It was just the way he scored the game-winner against North Carolina State, but this time Heckmann was there to slam Fair’s layup off the backboard.

On the other end, Hanlan — perhaps overly confident — pulled up for 3 on a two-on-one. His shot that would have silenced the crowd for good bricked off the rim. BC would have to wait a few more moments to celebrate in silence, just as Syracuse did a week earlier in Pittsburgh.

A six-win team knocking off a 25-win team might have been just as much a miracle as that 35-foot heave, but a loss was bound to come eventually.

“You’re just not going to win all these games,” Boeheim said. “I’m not sure exactly how we’ve won some of the games we’ve won.”

Published on February 19, 2014 at 9:32 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2