The Boston College Eagles (9-7, 1-4 ACC) men’s basketball team suffered its second straight loss with a 79-71 defeat to the Syracuse Orange (8-8, 2-3 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Conte Forum. 

The Eagles got off to a slow start, missing their  first three shot attempts and turning the ball over on the first possession of the day while on the other side of the ball, the Orange made its first two shots and tallied a steal. 

Boston College made its first basket with 17:14 remaining in the first half. After the good field goal, Syracuse went on a 6-2 run to put the team in front 10-4. 

The Eagles fought back from behind and gained its first lead of the game 13-12 with 12:54 left in the first 20 minutes from a three-pointer by guard Donald Hand Jr. 

The rest of the opening half consisted of runs by both teams. Syracuse went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead, then Boston College answered with a 7-0 run to get within one point. The Orange extended its lead with a 6-0 run and the Eagles responded with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 29 in the final seconds of the half. 

The two teams went into halftime knotted at 32 after three free throws by the Orange and a buzzer beating three-pointer by Eagles guard Josh Beadle. 

The contest remained tight for the entirety of the second half. Boston College opened the half making two of its first three shots and two free throws. 

The Eagles led by as many as eight points with 8:51 to go, however, similar to the first half, the Orange went on a 10-0 run down the stretch to take its first lead 56-54 of the half with 5:40 to go in the game and stayed in front the rest of the way. 

Boston College got within four points in the last few minutes, but could not find an answer on the defensive side of the ball. 

Next up, Boston College travels to South Bend, Ind., to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network. 

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