Battle scores 17, Syracuse beats No. 18 Clemson

Oshae Brissett and Tyus Battle each scored 17 points and Syracuse rallied to beat No. 18 Clemson 55-52 on Saturday to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth.

It was an opportunity for Syracuse (19-12, 8-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) to fill the biggest void on its resume — the lack of a marquee win — and the Orange capitalized. They were coming off a 15-point loss at Bos- ton College, which put a big dent in their postseason hopes.

Clemson (22-8, 11-7) entered the game ranked eighth in RPI and already assured of its first NCAA Tournament berth in seven years. The Tigers finished 4-6 on the road and suffered just their second loss this season after leading at halftime.

Marcquise Reed had 21 points and Elijah Thomas 18 to lead Clemson as the pair accounted for every Clemson point in the second half. Gabe DeVoe was 2

of 13, 0 of 6 frombeyond the arc, for four points.

Frank Howard finished with 11 points for the Orange, who shot just 30.2 percent (16 of 53) for the game. Battle also boosted his career points to 1,006.

Brissett broke a 50-all tie with a pair of free throws after Aamir Simms had missed a corner 3 and Brissett was fouled by Richards while snaring the rebound. Two free throws by Paschal Chukwu gave the Orange a four-point lead with 90 seconds left, but Reed converted a fast-break layup with 43.6 seconds to go after a miss by Battle to draw Clemson to 54-52.

After Battle missed again at the shot- clock buzzer, Brissett blocked Reed close in with 3.4 seconds left and the Orange survived when DeVoe’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer caromed off the rim.