Cleveland saves Florida St. from Boston U in 81-80 OT win

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Matthew Cleveland's putback layup wins it in OT for FSU

Matthew Cleveland scores a layup with 2.1 seconds left to help Florida State avoid an upset from Boston University.

Nov 25, 2021, 03:08 am

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- — Freshman Matthew Cleveland scored 17 points and his put-back basket with 2.1 seconds left in overtime helped Florida State fight off Boston University's upset bid with an 81-80 win Wednesday night.

Cleveland scored 14 in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. Caleb Mills also scored 17 for the Seminoles (5-1) who were never safe against BU (4-3).

Terriers sophomore Anthony Morales made the first two foul shots of his career to bring Boston U within 71-68 with seconds left in regulation. After Florida State's Anthony Polite missed badly on the front end of a one-and-one, Morales took the rebound, dribbled the length of the floor and buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.

Javante McCoy and Sukhmail Mathon each made two foul shots and Boston U led 75-71. With an 80-79 lead, in successive possessions, McCoy turned it over and Morales missed a 3 with 15 seconds left to setting up the Seminoles.

Mills drove right and put up a shot attempt that went over the rim which Cleveland collected. After a timeout and having to go the length of the floor, the Terriers’ inbounds pass was intercepted at half court.

McCoy scored 22 for Boston University.

Ethan Brittain-Watts’s three-point play with 8:51 before halftime capped a 10-0 Terriers run to give them their first lead at 20-18. Later, a 10-5 run to close the half brought BU to within 37-35 at intermission.

Florida State heads to West Lafayette, Indiana to play No. 3-ranked Purdue on Tuesday.

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