SOUTH BEND — Coming into its ACC opener, Notre Dame had to know 6-foot-11 Syracuse center Jesse Edwards would be a problem. After all, he entered Saturday’s game as the conference’s leading rebounder and shot blocker. However, the Irish also needed to take his scoring ability into account. Even if they did, it didn’t matter as Edwards dominated in what became a nail-biting 62-61 Orange victory.
[autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag], making his Irish debut in a leg brace, capped a 6-0 run for the Irish in the final minute with a layup that just fell through the basket with 29 seconds left. Having also drawn a foul on the play, he hit a free throw to give the Irish a 61-60 lead, erasing what had been a five-point deficit moments earlier.
Out of a timeout, the Orange’s Judah Mintz, who mostly had been held in check, made a go-ahead basket with 14 seconds left. The Irish took a timeout and then saw the Orange use up their fouls to give. Ultimately, a [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] corner shot at the buzzer missed, and the Irish had their first home loss of the season.
Neither team led by more than five points the entire game, but it was the Irish (6-2, 0-1), who ended up making the more costly mistakes. They committed 10 turnovers and shot only 38.3% from the field. Edwards was happy to take advantage of that as he dominated the paint during a 22-point, 14-rebound afternoon at Purcell Pavilion. Equally volatile was Joseph Girard III, who scored 20 for the Orange (4-4, 1-0).
Goodwin was the top player for the Irish with 16 points and nine rebounds. Together with [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag], who had 14 points, the two combined for seven 3-pointers. [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] was a potent threat off the bench thanks to 10 points and eight boards.
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