Youngstown State went toe-to-toe with an ACC powerhouse on Saturday.

The Penguins pushed Syracuse to the brink, but ultimately came up short against the Orange, falling 104-95 in double overtime at the JMA Wireless Dome.

YSU led for the majority of the first half and the two teams went back and forth throughout the second half.

At halftime, the Penguins led the Orange by seven thanks to 13 first-half points from senior EJ Farmer.

Farmer had struggled from the floor over the first two games of the season, combining to shoot 1-for-19 from the floor. But he finally found his rhythm against Syracuse, finishing with 26 points to lead the Penguins in scoring.

Near the end of the second half, with the game tied at 71 with 38 seconds left, fifth-year Nico Galette drove along the baseline and scored on a reverse layup to put the Penguins ahead with 14 seconds left.

But Syracuse’s JJ Starling took the inbound and drove the length of the court for a layup that tied the game at 73 with about eight seconds to go.

Starling was a one-man offensive machine for most of the afternoon for the Orange; whenever Syracuse needed a basket, he was usually the one to provide it. He finished with a game-high 38 points.

YSU had one last chance in the final seconds to try to win it at the end of regulation, but the Penguins turned the ball over, sending the game to overtime.

Despite a quick basket by Ty Harper on the first possession, Syracuse surged ahead in the first overtime period. The Orange ballooned their lead to as many as eight, but YSU wasn’t done yet.

With Syracuse leading 86-78 with 1:15 to go, Juwan Maxey knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to two. After a pair of missed free throws by Jaquan Carlos, Harper was fouled with seven seconds to go, sending him to the line for two free throws and a chance to tie and extend the game.

Harper calmly knocked down both shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 86 and sent it to a second overtime.

Much like the first overtime, Syracuse again surged ahead in the second overtime after an early YSU basket.

This time, however, the Penguins ran out of gas down the stretch, and the Orange were able to put the game away at the free-throw line.

In addition to Farmer’s 26, three other players scored in double figures for YSU. Galette finished with 21, while Harper had 17 and Jason Nelson hit three 3-pointers to finish with 10 points.

Next up for YSU, the Penguins will head to Nacogdoches, Texas to play three games in three days as part of a multi-team event hosted by Stephen F. Austin. YSU will play Monmouth at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Presbyterian at 3:30 on Friday and finally the Lumberjacks at 7 p.m. on Nov. 23.