Fred Payne excels to help Boston College beat Syracuse in OT

Fred Payne scored a career-high 26 points to help Boston College end a four-game losing streak by beating visiting Syracuse 81-73 in overtime Saturday.

Boston College (8-10, 1-4 ACC), trailed by seven with less than three minutes to play, but forced overtime when Donald Hand Jr. made a 3-pointer with seven seconds left. The Eagles never trailed in overtime and had their largest lead of the game when Payne capped the scoring with two free throws.

Jayden Hastings added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Boston College, which had lost each of its three previous games that went to overtime this season. The Eagles received 13 points from Chase Forte and 12 from Hand.

Payne has scored at least 20 points in each of his last four games.

Nate Kingz made five 3-pointers and scored a season-high 27 points for Syracuse (12-6, 3-2 ACC). The Orange received 19 points and five rebounds from Donnie Freeman, and 12 points from JJ Starling.

Freeman, a 6-foot-9 forward, has scored at least 18 points in each of the five games he's played in since he returned after missing nine games with a leg injury.

Boston College entered the game ranked last among ACC teams in scoring (67.9 ppg).

Boston College trailed by nine early, but grabbed a 19-18 lead on a Forte 3-pointer that capped an 11-1 run. Syracuse trailed 24-23, but used an 8-0 spurt to go up 31-24. The Eagles shot 28.6% from the field in the first half (8 for 28) and trailed 33-28 at halftime.

The game was tied at 55 with 6:28 to play, but Syracuse scored the next seven points. A 3-pointer by Hand shaved the Orange lead to 62-60 with 1:48 left.

Boston College trailed 64-61 after Freeman missed a free throw with 18 seconds to play and then Hand made the 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime.

--Field Level Media