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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Jason Hart wanted to make sure his
father's trip in from the West Coast was worth it.
The senior point guard, whose father saw him play for only the
third time since he came to Syracuse, was successful in the
Orangemen's 67-52 victory Sunday over Georgetown.
Hart had 15 points -- all in the second half -- as Syracuse (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) closed out its home schedule.
"I did everything the team needed me to do," said Hart, who
also had seven rebounds, seven assists and only two turnovers. "I
didn't force any opportunities. I found my little niches in the
zone and made some easy shots."
And at the right time. When the game was still in doubt with
just under seven minutes remaining, Hart scored 10 straight points
to give Syracuse a double-digit lead. His baseline jumper, off a
feed from Ryan Blackwell, put the Orangemen ahead 53-42 with 5:49
left.
"I wanted to win and we needed points," said Hart, who has 37
assists and only eight turnovers in the last four games. "I knew
this was going to be my last opportunity to have a good showing in
front of the Syracuse fans, and I just wanted to give them a good
memory of me."
There were plenty on hand. A crowd of 31,009, the largest
on-campus crowd in the country this season, turned out for the
farewell for the team's three seniors -- Hart, Etan Thomas and Ryan
Blackwell.
"The emotions were definitely high," said Thomas, who had four
blocks to increase his career conference total to 225, second only
to former Georgetown great Patrick Ewing's 247. "The crowd
cheering, being out there with my family. You see the love and
appreciation, and you're just thinking this is your last time on
the court."
Syracuse (23-3, 12-2 Big East) remained just ahead of St. John's
in the Big East and concludes its regular season with games this
week at Notre Dame and Connecticut.
"We've got two really tough games," said Thomas, who was
thwarted inside by Georgetown's Lee Scruggs and Ruben Boumtje
Boumtje and had just eight points and four rebounds. "These are
two of the toughest games we can have at the end of the season."
Barring a reversal of fortune in the upcoming Big East
tournament, Georgetown (15-12, 5-9) likely will be headed to the
NIT for the third straight year.
"I thought going into the game we attempted to do a good job
keeping the ball out of Thomas's hands," Georgetown coach Craig
Esherick said. "The zone helped accomplish that, but I didn't
think we did a good job at all in transition defense."
The Hoyas led the conference in field-goal percentage defense
coming in (37 percent). But Syracuse came alive in the second half,
hitting 12 of 19 shots from the floor, several of them in
transition, and finished the game at 48 percent.
The Orangemen gave the Hoyas a taste of their own medicine at
the end, holding them to one basket in the final 4:58 _ a dunk in
the final minute by Scruggs, who led Georgetown with 22 points. The
Hoyas shot 31 percent for the game.
"We have to do a far better job shooting the ball if we want to
compete at this level," Esherick said. "We have to figure out a
way to either have the people we have shoot the ball better or find
someone else who can shoot."
Preston Shumpert, who along with Damone Brown had 13 points for
Syracuse, partially dislocated the middle finger of his shooting
hand three minutes into the second half but only sat out briefly.
For the first eight minutes of the second half, it was Syracuse
against Scruggs, who scored 10 of the Hoyas' first 11 points of the
period.
Syracuse, which led only 27-25 at halftime, finally managed to
build a big lead after Scruggs was called for his fourth foul with
11:32 left and was forced to sit.
At the break, 15 of the 25 former Syracuse players selected as
members of the school's all-century team were honored. Among those
in attendance were Dave Bing, Roosevelt Bouie, Dwayne "Pearl"
Washington, Louis Orr, Rony Seikaly and Sherman Douglas. Hart and
Thomas also were selected, and Jim Boeheim was picked as coach.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Georgetown Clubhouse
Syracuse Clubhouse
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