Anyone who bet Syracuse +2 for its game at Miami had to feel pretty good at halftime. Then awful late in the second half.
Then amazing, thanks to Cole Swider.
The Orange led by as many as 18 points in the first half of what looked like the team’s second quadrant 1 win of the season. Then, the Hurricanes’ outside shooting came back online. Miami clawed back from that double-digit deficit, taking the lead early in the second half and holding ‘Cuse at arm’s length throughout the final stretch of media timeouts. With nine seconds left, the Hurricanes led 87-81 and were ready to pay out anyone who took the home favorites at -2.
Then Swider stepped in.
Cole Swider pic.twitter.com/DmgA9ZSceC
— Stuckey (@Stuckey2) January 6, 2022
The Villanova transfer and product of America’s cauldron of college basketball, the great state of Rhode Island, calmly drilled a pair of threes as the clock drained. That didn’t produce an Orange win, but did reward anyone who put their betting faith in then 7-6 Syracuse.
… annnnnnd also crushed anyone who assumed they were cashing that “MIAMI -2” ticket once their team went up by six with fewer than 10 seconds to play. One bettor’s miracle is another’s bad beat, and this one was all on Cole Swider.
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