TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — Freshman Matthew Cleveland scored on a put-back layup with 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime to give Florida State an 81-80 victory over Boston College at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Cleveland rebounded a missed shot by Caleb Mills to give the Seminoles their only lead in the overtime period and the victory over the upset minded Terriers.
Cleveland then stole the Terriers’ inbounds pass to secure the win for the Seminoles.
The win was the 12th consecutive overtime win for Head Coach Leonard Hamilton’s program – a collegiate basketball record for consecutive overtime victories. The Seminoles have won each of their overtime games since January 13, 2018 when they gained a double overtime win over Syracuse at home.
Florida State now holds the all-time national record for consecutive overtime victories. Tonight’s victory put the Seminoles ahead of Louisville (1968-75), UMass (1991-96) and Virginia (1991-96) who all won 11 consecutive overtime victories.
The win was Florida State’s 80th win in its last 84 home games, a streak that began with a 77-56 victory over Notre Dame on February 27, 2015. The Seminoles have a winning percentage of better than 95 percent on their home court since that win over the Fighting Irish.
Mills and Cleveland scored 17 each to pace five Seminoles in double figures in the victory.
Mills was credited with five assists and five steals, while sophomore Cam’Ron Fletcher scored 11 points. Redshirt senior Anthony Polite scored 11 points, totaled five rebounds and five assists, while Malik Osborne put up 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
In scoring two 3-pointers this evening, Fletcher is now four of seven (.571) from beyond the arc in the past two games. He averages 11.5 ppg in Florida State’s victories over Missouri and Boston University.
Florida State was up 37-35 at half in what was the closest halftime lead for the Seminoles in their first six games. The Seminoles have led at half in each of their six games this season.
During the second half, the Seminoles maintained a close lead until Boston University’s Anthony Morales made a 3-point shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 71.
Six of Cleveland’s points came in the overtime, as he made the game-winning layup with 2.1 seconds left in the game. He has scored in double figures in four of the six games of his first collegiate season.
All three of Cleveland’s baskets in the overtime period either tied the game – and in the end – proved to be the game winning basket. A Cleveland dunk at the 2:41 mark tied the game at 75 while a layup at the 2:16 mark tied the game at 77. His game winning basket came after Boston University took a three point lead on a layup (at the 1:52 mark) and one of two made free throws (at the 1:29 mark) by Sukhmail Mathon.
The Terriers scored the first four points of the overtime period and led 75-71 with 3:13 left to play.
From there, the Seminoles outscored Boston University by a 10-5 margin to win the game.
In addition to Cleveland’s six points in overtime, Polite and Mills both contributed baskets as Florida State improved to 5-1. The Terriers are now 4-3.
The Seminoles shot .476 from the field and .400 from the 3-point line. With 12 steals against the Terriers, Florida State now has 35 steals in the past three games (11.7 spg) and has at least eight steals in his first six games of the season.
Boston University’s Javante McCoy scored a team-high 22 points, while Mathon recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Florida State looks to knock-off their first ranked opponent of the season when they travel to No. 3 Purdue on Nov. 30 for the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. and be aired on ESPN.
