Starling leads Syracuse to first ACC win against Georgia Tech, 62-55
Starling leads Syracuse to first ACC win against Georgia Tech, 62-55
Starling drops 21 in second game back from injury to help Orange pull away in the second half from the Yellow Jackets.
Syracuse returned home from a short road trip from Tallahassee, where they dropped a game to Florida State, to face off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Through what head coach Red Autry calls the “Orange Standard”, the team grinded out a 62-55 win.
“Just being tough, at the end of the day, coaches want guys that play hard. I feel we’re really putting it together right now; we’re playing hard, we’re playing for each other and that’s what it’s all about,” guard J.J. Starling said about the Orange Standard.
On a night where tickets were going for as low as one dollar, the Orange overcame their turnover struggles and got the win. The win marks the teams first ACC win of the season and moves them to 7-8 and 1-3 in ACC play.
The season-long scoring struggles continued in the first half for the Orange. The team extending its streak of not scoring 40 points in the first half, only scoring 25 and going into halftime ahead by one point. The Orange shot 11-30 from the field, while Georgia Tech went 11-37. Syracuse had 10 turnovers to Tech’s eight.
The defense had not found its way yet, only forcing three steals in the half to the Georgia Tech six. The Yellow Jackets also found a way to keep Eddie Lampkin scoreless in the first half and were winning the points in the paint battle 16-10.
In the second half the Orange came to play. The Orange were three points shy of a 40 point half, putting up 37.
Lampkin’s and-1 bucket put the Orange ahead by five with 7:52 to play. It was a huge momentum shift for the Orange as the center gave the crowd a “rock the baby” celebration. Lampkin recorded another double-double, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“Just being patient, when I’m being patient I get better shots. Figuring out what I need to do to get going and reading the game,” Lampkin said.
Nonetheless Georgia Tech stayed with the Orange every step of the way. Seemingly every time the Orange made a big bucket the Yellow Jackets would come back with one of their own. Lance Terry led the way for Georgia Tech in the second half with 13 points to match Starling’s second half point total.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well but we just found a way to gut it out. I thought we rebounded the ball extremely well. It was just one of those old school games, tough to score but we battled,” Autry said.
Tonight marked the home return for Starling. Starling played 36 minutes, scored 21 points and five rebounds.
Before Saturday, Starling had not played in 37 days with a broken hand. In that stretch the Orange went 2-5, beating only UAlbany and Bucknell.
“I think, if you followed us through the stretch without him and the stretch now you can see the difference and see how important he is for us,” Autry said.
But tonight, with Starling back, the Orange picked up their first ACC win. Also there seems to be a renewed confidence and sense of urgency.
“We all know we needed one[win], we’re not going to get too high on this, we will use this as motivation to keep putting things together and keep growing, and continue to strive for a good season,” Starling said.
The Orange’s next matchup will be Jan. 11 on the road against Boston College, the Orange will then return home next Tuesday to face Louisville at 7 p.m in the JMA Dome.
is the Sports Lead Producer for The NewsHouse.