Story by Jake Lapin
Photos by Dontae Harris
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After an early scare in its first exhibition game, Syracuse won in wire-to-wire fashion at the Carrier Dome over local foe Le Moyne on Tuesday night, 97-64.
The Orange avoided another Election Night upset to the Dolphins, which occurred back in 2009 when Le Moyne won 82-79 at the Carrier Dome on the same night Mayor Stephanie Miner was elected.
White Hot
Grad transfer Andrew White III was the story of the night, finishing with 24 points in 26 minutes.
He shot 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, which could come in handy since SU lost its top-three three-point shooters from last season.
"We lost three guys who could really shoot," Coach Jim Boeheim said. "Andrew showed tonight how effective he can be shooting the basketball."
"That's what he does," said Le Moyne head coach Patrick Beilein.
While with Nebraska last season, White scored 15 points against Michigan, coached by none other than Patrick's father John Beilein, himself a former Le Moyne coach.
Guard Watch
Same as last week, a lot of eyes were on the point guards Frank Howard and John Gillon, who are battling for the starting spot.
Howard started each of the exhibition games, and appears to be safe in that slot to start the season.
In 25 minutes, the sophomore had 11 points and seven assists, with just one turnover.
Gillon on the other hand, had a rough first half but got going in the second, finishing with 14 points of his own in just 14 minutes on the floor.
However, after nine assists in game one, Gillon only had two assists to go with his two turnovers on Tuesday.
"I think John and Frank really combined to play very well together, each in his own time frame," Boeheim said. "It's good to have two guys who can play."
Le Moyne Shot Selection
Le Moyne shot 39 times from deep, compared to just 17 times inside the arc.
Perhaps the reason for this is the Dolphins' tallest player on the night was 6-6 Isaiah Eisendorf, who is just one inch taller than SU's starting point guard Howard.
Still, Le Moyne shot the three-ball quite well, hitting 14 of its 39 attempts, good for 35.9 percent.
Last season, Beilein's squad made just 34.6 percent of it's threes, which has become a focus for this year.
"I thought we executed much better," Beilein said in comparison to last season's matchup versus Syracuse. "You're going to get threes against the zone, but our offense is built around the three-point shot."
Notes
Freshman Matt Moyer was officially redshirted Tuesday, after playing nine minutes in the first exhibition. Boeheim noted that Moyer, coming off a toe injury, missed a lot of time and is not quite in game shape just yet. He also mentioned that Moyer would not have gotten much time as the ninth or tenth man in the rotation, but lots of players who redshirted went on to start for SU, such as last year's backcourt of Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney.
The first half came to a crazy close, as White and Tanner Hyland for Le Moyne went back-and-forth on a three-point rampage. White finished the half 5-of-7 from deep. Hyland finished 5-of-6 in the first half, and ended the game with 18 points of his own. He did not attempt a single two-point shot.
Syracuse's win improved the team to 7-1 versus Le Moyne since 2004, with the Dolphin's lone win coming in 2009.
What's Next?
Syracuse officially starts its season on Friday when Colgate comes to the Carrier Dome. The game begins at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ACCN Extra.
Le Moyne, who finished last year just 10-17, will start its season in Albany this weekend at the Northeast-10 Challenge versus Concordia College.
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