Beekman’s Buzzer-Beater Leads UVA Over Cuse

REENSBORO, N.C. — Reece Beekman hit a 3-pointer as time expired to help No. 16 Virginia edge Syracuse 72-69 in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Beekman hadn’t hit a shot all day but buried a 3 from the right wing off a feed from Kihei Clark as the horn sounded. That sent Beekman sprinting immediately towards the other end of the court with his teammates pursuing him at full speed before finally gathering with him near the far baseline to celebrate.

That shot helped the top-seeded Cavaliers (18-6) grind out a win after trailing by 11 in the first half while struggling to slow Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim.

Sam Hauser scored 21 points to lead Virginia, which made 4 of 5 3s to close the game in the final 5 1/2 minutes.

Boeheim finished with a career-high 31 points for the eighth-seeded Orange (16-9), a day after he scored 27 points in Syracuse’s tournament opener.