Orange Shooters Emerge as SU Beats Long Beach State

Story and photo by Robert Magobet

 

Syracuse, N.Y. - Long Beach State's 49ers kept it close at halftime but Syracuse used solid shooting to pull away at the Carrier Dome, Sunday afternoon. The Orange (8-4) ended up winning 85-67 with Rakeem Christmas and Michael Gbinije scoring 24 points each and Trevor Cooney adding 18.

“We were as good...all game as we been all year,” Boeheim said of his team's offense. “We were moving the basketball. When Rak got it he got doubled, he got it out of there."

"We didn’t play defense the first half and that was something that was a big concern. We've got to play better defensively. We picked up a little bit better in the second half."  

Three-point shooting:

Small forward Gbinije remained consistent all game helping Syracuse stay close early in the first half as well as helping Syracuse pull away in the second. Gbinije went 4-of-6 from three-point land. He added eight assists to his 24 points. Overall Syracuse went 7-of-12 from three-point range and Long Beach State went 6-of-23.

“Part of it was really Rak,” Gbinije said. “As he got going they forced double teams. I just happened to be the guy left open.  We got some in transition; the press set it up. It’s a little bit of me getting open and just being ready but at the same time other people are making plays that got me open as well.

"It feels really good. I haven’t felt like that in a long time so I just hope I can keep it up and still not get satisfied with shooting jump shots.”

Christmas anchored the middle adding 10 rebounds and two blocks to his 24 points.

Cooney shot 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and had five rebounds and two assists.

At the end of the first half, Cooney stole the ball off a 49ers inbounds pass and stroked a 30-foot three-point basket as his momentum took him forward. The shot seemed to give the Orange energy going into the second half.

“I guess it had to,” Cooney said. “When a shot like that goes in it definitely adds something. I mean I’m glad it went in.”

Defense:

While the final score made it look as though the 49ers never stood a chance, they led early, shooting 15-27 in the half and it took Cooney's 3-point heave to give SU a 44-40 lead at the break.

The 49ers started the game on a 14-4 run and boos echoed through the arena. Long Beach State did a good job of being patient, moving the ball side-to-side before passing the ball in the middle to forward David Samuels where he scored repeatedly in the paint.

Syracuse started using its full-court press  to generate a pair of 11-0 runs and the Orange led 28-21 just under the 8-minute mark. Gbinije and Cooney hit five 3-pointers between  them in the first half.

But the 49ers fought back and had the ball, trailing by just one before Cooney stole the pass and hit the heave at the half.

The pressure and better zone defense in the second half caused Long Beach State to commit 15 turnovers in the game that amounted to 24 points for Syracuse off those turnovers. Long Beach state only had six points off of Syracuse’s 13 turnovers.

“In the second half we just started picking up our defense,” Christmas said. “We made them take tougher shots and started getting the ball in the middle.”

 

Samuels finished the game with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists for Long Beach State. Mike Caffey had 14 points and six assists while Tyler Lamb contributed 14 points.

Free-Throws:

For the game, Syracuse shot 75-percent (18-24) from the free-throw line while Long Beach State shot 87.5-percent (7-8) but had 16 fewer chances.  Christmas, who has often been foul trouble this season, did not pick up a single foul while playing 37 minutes.

Next:

Syracuse plays Cornell on New Year’s Eve 6:00 at the Carrier Dome. Cornell is 2-2 in December while Syracuse is 3-3.