FSU Basketball survives double overtime slugfest to beat Syracuse

FSU basketball needed an extra ten minutes of basketball to break their recent losing streak and get a much needed conference win over the Orange.

After losing three of their last four games – including two contests where they had a halftime lead – FSU basketball found themselves in a game Saturday against the Syracuse Orange that was a mixture of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

In the end, the Seminoles needed two overtime frames, but pulled away late in the second one to escape with a 101-90 win over their conference foe in a game that was much closer than the score indicated and saw FSU basketball playing without their top scorer and their second best scorer helped off the court with an injury.

After taking nearly six minutes to hit their first field goal of the game, the Seminoles woke up in the first half and took a 10 point lead into the locker room – led by Christ Koumadje with three baskets in the final two minutes that included two monster dunks that got the Tucker Center rocking as part of his 23 point day.

The second half, however, started with the Orange going on a 24-7 run and silencing the crowd and having the Seminoles start to sweat. The crowd became worried late in the second half when PJ Savoy went down holding his knee and hd to be helped off the court.

FSU basketball and Syracuse would go back and forth late, with Phil Cofer hitting a three with 28 seconds to go – only to see Tyus Battle continue his hot second half by tying the game at 74 with his own three pointer.

In the first overtime, Syracuse had the lead after Battle (who had 32 of his 37 points in the second half and overtime) hit a jumper with less than a minute to go before Trent Forrest responded seconds later and forced a second overtime.

In the second five minutes, the Seminoles hit six free throws along with a three pointer from Braian Angola, who had a team high 24 points, to extend the lead to nine – putting it away with three slam dunks by Mfiondu Kabengele and Forrest.

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FSU basketball, who was playing without star guard Terance Mann as he continues to deal with a  concussion suffered in Wednesday’s loss to Louisville, extends their record on the season to 13-4 and 2-3 in the ACC. The Seminoles return to the court Monday when they travel to face Boston College.