Syracuse Holds on to Beat St. John's, 68-63

By Pete Sweeney NEW YORK (Newhouse Sports Media Center) - Michael Gbinije sat on the court with the ball in his grasp as he and Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim desperately yelled to the referees for a timeout. The timeout was not granted and Red Storm players swarmed Gbinije.

          When the whistle finally blew, the call was jump ball, possession: St. John’s. The Madison Square Garden roof was about to fly off.

The Red Storm, up 60-58 on the Orange, held a two-point lead with just five minutes and 27 seconds to play. But as St. John’s fans were in a frenzy and the Orange back-pedaled to get back on defense, senior Baye Keita turned to all four of his teammates, opened his hands palm down, and gestured for his players to relax. He still felt like his team was in control.

Two defensive stops and four Tyler Ennis points later and the Orange was up for good.

“He’s a very, very smart player,” Boeheim said of Ennis after the game. “As a freshman point guard, he’s playing better than anybody that I’ve ever had.”

Ennis, due in main part to a tremendous first half in which he scored a team-high 15 points, finished with a share of the game-high, 21. CJ Fair, who scored four critical points down the final five-minute stretch after the Orange took back the lead, also finished with 21.

“It’s all about getting in the right position [and] taking your time; you don’t want to rush things,” Fair said. “Tyler [Ennis] was able to get me the ball in good positions and I was able to operate from there.”

St. John’s came into game with a 6-2 record and even in the loss, proved that it is capable of competing with the Orange. Jim Boeheim credited the Red Storm for a strong effort at his post-game press conference.

           
            “I think St. John’s is a much improved team from what I’ve seen,” he said. “They’re more mature, there are more veterans. I think they’ve got really good players and I think they’re going to have a good year.”

           
              Up until the start of the second half, an Orange victory seemed like a foregone conclusion. Syracuse owned a 39-27 lead heading into the locker room for the break.

           
              “It almost seemed like it was deer in the headlights in the first half,” Red Storm Head Coach Steve Lavin said after the game.

           
                St. John’s leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison had a lot to do with his team’s second half resurgence. Following just a three-point performance in the first half, Harrison scored the first seven points in the second half as part of an 11-5 run to get the Red Storm back in the game. He finished with 21.

           
              “We didn’t play in the first half and then came out and played with a different attitude,” Harrison said. “We outscored [Syracuse] in the second half.”

           
                Harrison was just as good on the defensive side of the ball. He locked down Trevor Cooney, who came into the game averaging 15.3 points per game for the Orange. Cooney only shot three times, all three-point attempts, and missed them all.

           
                 Fortunately for the Orange, Jerami Grant was able to pick up Cooney’s slack. He finished the game with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a block that sealed the game for the Orange with 33 seconds remaining.

           
                "That was some play," Boeheim said of the block. "He had a couple of highlight plays today."

Syracuse 68, St. John's 63 - Box Score

Next Game
 

#2 Syracuse plays its next game against High Point this Friday, back home at the Carrier Dome. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

 

Game Notes

• Syracuse improves its record to 10-0. Coming into the game, Syracuse was one of just 14 teams that remain undefeated in NCAA Division I basketball.
• This was the 88th matchup between St. John's and Syracuse. With the win, Syracuse now leads the series, 51-37.
• Syracuse's largest lead was 14 points with six seconds to go in the first half.
• CJ Fair had two steals in tonight's game. He has recorded at least one steal in all but one game this season (Minnesota).
• Trevor Cooney was held to zero points for the the first time in his college career when playing 20 minutes or more.
• Syracuse only attempted eight three-point shots tonight, making just one. The only game this season where the Orange attempted fewer threes was St. Francis (six).
• The teams matched in bench scoring. Each team's bench finished with 14 points.
• The score was tied seven times during the game and the lead changed four times.
• Jim Boeheim likes playing at MSG and would like to see Syracuse continue to play in New York in the future. He said "We have a lot of Syracuse fans down here that live in this area. I think we're in a tournament next year here...We like coming here. We played a lot of games at Madison Square Garden. It's a great place for college basketball...I thought both groups of fans were into it. I just thought it was a great game at the Garden and that's why we signed up to play in it. I knew it would be."