COL BKB: Clemson 74, Syracuse 70

CLEMSON, S.C., March 21 (UPI) -- Clemson advanced to the semifinals of the NIT tournament Wednesday night with a 74-70 victory over Syracuse.

Playing in front of its home crowd, Clemson advanced to Tuesday night's game against the winner of Wednesday's game between Air Force and DePaul.

K.C. Rivers led the Tigers with a career-high 29 points while James Mays added 13 points and seven rebounds. Clemson led 38-27 at the half.

Eric Devendorf led Syracuse with 23 points.

Although Clemson held a comfortable lead for much of the games, the Orange made it interesting with an 18-5 run that cut Clemson's lead to 67-66 with 1:03 remaining. Rivers and Vern Hamilton each converted a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to ice the win for the Tigers.