Syracuse Upset by Boston College

Michael Adams, fouled near midcourt, hit two free throws with one second left to lift Boston College to a 67-66 Big East upset at Boston Tuesday night, but Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse said the foul shouldn’t have been called.

“Players are supposed to decide the games, not the referees,” said Boeheim, whose team is ranked sixth by Associated Press and eighth by United Press International.

Asked if he thought the officials had decided the outcome, Boston College Coach Gary Williams scanned the final box score and said simply, “Syracuse shot 22 free throws, we shot 10.”

Adams was near midcourt when he heaved the basketball for a last-resort shot and was fouled by Andre Hawkins.

“The guy’s 40 feet from the basket throwing the ball in the air,” Boeheim said. “It’s no foul. If anything, it’s a charge.”

But referee Dick Paparo called a blocking foul against Hawkins.

“I was surprised there was that much defense,” Boston College Coach Gary Williams said. “It’s a tough call, I’m sure, for Syracuse, but we had a couple of tough ones, too.”

“I saw him coming,” Adams said of Hawkins. “I had nowhere to go so I just moved toward him to draw the foul.

“I was nervous before I got to the line. I just stayed away until the last second,” he added. “We came here to win the game.”

Wendell Alexis had hit two free throws for the Orangemen with 20 seconds remaining to give them their only lead of the second half, 66-65.

Pearl Washington, who led Syracuse with 17 points, fired a long shot at the buzzer, but it fell short.

Boston College, 16-5 overall and 5-5 in the Big East, was led by Adams and Roger McCready with 16 points each.

Pressley added 11 and Gordon 10.

Syracuse, which had a four-game winning streak snapped, got 16 points from Rafael Addison. The Orangemen dropped to 15-4 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

Villanova 79, Connecticut 71--Dwayne McClain hit 10 of 12 field goal attempts and scored 23 points and Harold Pressley added 19 to lead Villanova to a Big East victory at Hartford, Conn.

Villanova, ranked 19th by Associated Press and 18th by UPI, improved its overall record to 15-5 and 7-3 in the Big East. Connecticut dropped to 8-11 and 3-7.

Iona 77, Manhattan 69--Tony Hargraves scored 15 points to lead four Iona players in double figures as the Gaels won a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at New Rochelle, N.Y. The Gaels raised their record to 19-2.

Tim Cain scored 13 points for Manhattan, 6-15 and 2-7 in the conference.

Marquette 75, Richmond 67--Guard Mandy Johnson led a balanced Marquette scoring attack with a career-high 22 points at Milwaukee as the Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak.