Despite unearthing an inspired effort, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball couldn’t quite climb out of the hole it dug itself into, falling to the North Carolina Tar Heels 72-68 in heartbreaking fashion on Tuesday night.
Syracuse led late and looked poised for a marquee victory, but the mistake-making began in crunch time when Syracuse failed to box out on the back end of a Pete Nance missed free throw. Joe Girard—despite a valiant effort on an 18 point, 5 assist and 4 rebound night—tried to save a loose ball under his own basket and Nance stood in as recipient in the form of a late lead.