Buddy Boeheim scored 23 points as Syracuse heated up after halftime and pulled away for a 75-60 victory over visiting Drexel on Sunday.
Syracuse (2-0) followed up its dominating win over Lafayette by gradually taking charge after trailing by one at halftime. The Orange made their first seven shots of the second half, shot 63 percent in the final 20 minutes and 55.6 percent overall.
Boeheim shot 8 of 16 and handed out four assists in 34 minutes. Brother Jimmy Boeheim added 14 for the Orange, who outscored Drexel 43-27 after halftime. Cole Swider chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals while Joe Girard III contributed 11 points and five assists as Syracuse scored 25 points off turnovers and recorded 15 steals.
Mate Okros led Drexel (1-1) with 16 points. Camren Wynter, the preseason Colonial Athletic Association player of the year, was held to 11 points and also committed five of Drexel’s 20 turnovers.
The Dragons shot 42.3 percent and missed 17 of 27 3-pointers against Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense. They shot 37.5 percent after halftime and committed 12 turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
Syracuse held a 23-18 lead on a layup by Symir Torrence with 9:24 remaining but Trevion Brown hit a jumper and consecutive 3-pointers as Drexel responded with a 10-0 run for a 28-23 lead with 4:50 remaining. After Syracuse took a 32-31 on a 3-pointer by Buddy Boeheim with 55 seconds remaining, Wynter hit a long jumper with two seconds left to give Drexel a 33-32 lead by halftime.
Syracuse used its hot start to take a 48-39 lead on a layup by Girardi with 15:58 remaining. The lead grew to 61-50 on Buddy Boeheim’s turnaround in the paint with 7:57 remaining and Syracuse clinched their fourth win in five all-time meetings with Drexel when Buddy Boeheim hit a jumper to make it 71-52 with 3:21 remaining.
–Field Level Media
