Orange Men Cruise Past Colgate in Season Opener

Story by Robert Schiff
Photo courtesy cuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. - A Tyler Roberson jam 17 seconds into the game set the tone early for Coach Jim Boeheim's Orange Men, as they rolled past Colgate in their season opener, 83-55, in front of 23,844 fans at the Carrier Dome Friday night. 

Unusual Suspect

The 6-8 Senior from Union, N. J. averaged just under nine points per game last year, but on Friday night, Roberson dominated on the offensive end, with three dunks early in the first half. He shot 9-for-13 from the field, and finished with 18 points in just 24 minutes. 

“Going to the basket, that’s where he’s effective,” Boeheim said. “He was very good. He’s a good finisher when he gets to the basket.”

"We’ve got a lot of games to go and I just really want to start playing well," Roberson said.

Two Are Better than One

The guard play shown in two exhibition games continued to be stellar for the Orange on Friday night. Picking up where they left off on Tuesday night against LeMoyne, Frank Howard and John Gillon combined for 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, as well as 15 of the team’s 23 assists.

 “It’s important for those guys to play well. It helps everybody,” Boeheim said. “That’s a lot of assists out of one position and they scored as well.”

“I’m just taking every game with what the defense gives me," Gillon said. "If you want to back off me, I can hit the shot. If you want to get too close, I can go right by you. If I go right by you, I have great bigs and great shooters around me, so I can dish it off and kick it out. It’s about using my thought process and basketball IQ.”

Far From Perfect

Despite the 28-point win, it wasn’t a perfect performance by the Orange, especially on the boards, barely outrebounding the Raiders 46-40. 

“It was a terrible rebounding night,” Boeheim said. “We have to rebound the ball better than that. That’s not good.”

Boeheim also had issues with his team’s full-court press. “It was horrendous,” he said. “It wasn’t even worth saying that we pressed them.”

This was Syracuse’s 51st straight win against Colgate. The Raiders kept it close for the first ten minutes of the game, trailing 18-15, but the Orange then went on a 12-0 run, and never looked back. Colgate shot only 26 percent from the field in the first half, going just five-for-23 from behind the arc. As for the Orange’s three-point performance, Frank Howard didn’t miss a shot, hitting three from deep, and surpassing his total of two from last season. 

What’s Next

The Orange’s next test will come against Holy Cross Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome. As for Colgate, the Raiders will travel to Ithaca to take on Cornell on Wednesday night.