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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Syracuse is learning that life without
center Etan Thomas isn't so bad. At least for now.
Thomas missed the first two games of the season with a staph
infection and the Orangemen easily won both behind the play of Ryan
Blackwell.
On Saturday night, Thomas sprained his right ankle late in the first half of the Carrier Classic championship against St. Joseph's, and Blackwell excelled again. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds and DeShaun Williams scored five points during a decisive spurt as the No. 14 Orangemen held off the Hawks 82-60.
"You have to go with what you have," said Blackwell, who won
his second tournament MVP award of the young season. "It's one of
those situations where he had to go out of the game, and I think we
realized we've done it before, so in the back of our minds we knew
we could come out and win the game."
Not without a struggle, though.
After trailing the whole game and hitting just 4-of-13
3-pointers in the first half, St. Joseph's (2-2) solved the
Syracuse zone early in the second.
Marvin O'Connor, N'aim Crenshaw and Tim Brown each hit
3-pointers to keep the Hawks close. Then Brown's driving layup and
3-pointer and a baseline jumper by Robert Haskins gave the Hawks a
46-45 lead with 12:04 left.
It was short-lived. Syracuse (6-0) switched to a man-to-man
defense and the Hawks sputtered. After making a dozen 3-pointers on
Friday night against Long Beach State, they made just 6-of-26.
"They made a real tactical change in the second half," Hawks
coach Phil Martelli said. "We lit up the zone pretty well to take
the lead. Then the next dead ball they came out man-to-man, and I
wasn't real comfortable with our man-to-man attack.
"Our game is to penetrate the ball and to pitch out and take
3-point shots," Martelli said. "Tonight the ball just didn't drop
for us from the perimeter. We have to make those shots."
Instead, Syracuse did.
A follow-up basket by Damone Brown, who finished with 15 points
and nine rebounds, and another follow by Tony Bland gave Syracuse a
49-46 lead with 10:35 left.
A turnaround jumper in the lane by reserve center Billy Celuck
then started Syracuse on the 13-4 run that won the game. Williams
stunned the Hawks with a 3-pointer and bank shot and Blackwell
followed with a short jumper to boost the lead to 58-50 with 7:08
left.
"That was real big," said Williams, who finished with seven
points and four assists. "Then we got some steals, so that boosted
our team up a lot."
Syracuse played the final 26:58 without Thomas, who leads the
Orangemen in scoring (19 points) and rebounding (10). Amazingly,
the team barely skipped a beat. Thomas scored just two points -- on
free throws.
Jason Hart, who scored only two points Friday night, finished
with 15 and seven assists for the Orangemen and Bland had 11
points.
"This game was a total effort from everybody on the floor,"
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "But the overall story of the
game was our defense. Our man-to-man the last part of the game was
as good as it can be. We just didn't give them anything."
O'Connor led the Hawks with 19 points, Tim Brown had 12 and Bill
Phillips 10.
"I think after a while we got out of sync," said O'Connor, who
hit three 3-pointers. "Guys weren't hustling the way they should,
and things went downhill from there. We got down on ourselves and
they controlled the game from there."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
St Josephs (Penn.) Clubhouse
Syracuse Clubhouse
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