North Florida Ospreys vs Syracuse Orange Box Score on Dec 21, 2019

Junior guard Elijah Hughes scored 18 points to lead Syracuse to an 82-70 home win over North Florida on Saturday.

Four other players scored in double figures for the Orange (7-5), who have won three of their last four games.

Junior Marek Dolezaj had 17 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals; sophomore guard Buddy Boeheim scored 16 points, freshman guard Joseph Girard III had 14 points and freshman forward Quincy Guerrier added 10 points to flank Hughes for Syracuse.

Senior guard J.T. Escobar scored 19 points, sophomore Carter Hendricksen had 17 points, and senior Garrett Sams and senior Ivan Gandia-Rosa each added 11 points for North Florida (7-7), which has lost three of its last four.

Syracuse shot 45.8 percent from the floor overall (27 of 59) and 38.5 percent from 3-point range (10 of 26), while North Florida shot 40 percent overall (22 of 55) and 37 percent from 3-point range (17 of 46).

The game was close for a majority of the time, with Syracuse holding a 35-33 lead at halftime and a 43-38 lead with 17:32 remaining before North Florida rallied.

North Florida scored six straight points to take a 44-43 lead with 16:31 left in the game and the teams were tied at 54-54 with 12:02 before Syracuse made a surge.

The Orange went on an 11-0 run to take a 65-54 lead with 9:06 left.

North Florida mounted a charge, cutting the Syracuse lead to 70-64 with 4:54 remaining.

But Syracuse responded, scoring the next seven points of the game to take a 77-64 lead with 1:50 left.

The biggest lead for either team in the first half was six points when Syracuse held a 22-16 lead with 7:38 left.

North Florida countered with a 7-0 run to take a 23-22 lead with 6:29 to go until halftime.

--Field Level Media