Rakeem Christmas wouldn't let another one of Syracuse's last minute leads slip away.
The senior center scored a career-high 35 points, but it was six free throws he made in the last minute of overtime that allowed the Orange to finally put away Wake Forest for a dramatic 86-83 win. For the third time in conference play, Syracuse (13-4, 4-0) pulled away with a one-possession win by having its opponent miss a shot as time expired.
"We fought every step of the way," Jim Boeheim said. "When they got the lead or they had the lead and we had to make a play, we made it. And at the end of the day, when he had to make foul shots, we made foul shots and they missed."
Wake Forest led by as many as nine points, which came with 15:57 left in the game. Unlike the short-handed Orange, the Demon Deacons got a huge lift from their bench through Konstantinos Mitoglu. He scored 26 points and used his quick catch-and-release to make his first nine shot attempts of the night.
But Syracuse countered with Christmas and Trevor Cooney, a combination that accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Orange offense. Christmas scored 21-of-35 points in the second half or overtime, a much-needed lift in Syracuse's first game without forward Chris McCullough.
"I was just going out there, having fun being aggressive and just getting to the hole," Christmas said. "Coach wanted me to be aggressive going to the rim and that's what I did."
Cooney also added 21 points, including a step back 3-pointer in front of the Syracuse bench that tied the game at 65.
The Demon Deacons almost sent the game to double overtime when Cornelius Hudson's three-quarter court shot narrowly rolled off the right side of the rim and onto the Carrier Dome court, eliciting a sigh of relief from the Syracuse crowd that watched the Orange squander another lead at the end of regulation.
That time, Hudson's more conventional three point attempt tied the game with 14 seconds left, after the Orange mistakenly collapsed around the free throw line.
Michael Gbinije had a chance to win the game in regulation when he drove left past his defender and used his right hand to get up a layup. Gbinije's shot banked off the glass too hard so the Orange and Demon Deacons headed to overtime. But Gbinije redeemed himself with a 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining and Syracuse stayed poised at the free throw line to hang on for its seventh straight win.