PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It didn’t take much for Rutgers to earn its first Big East win. Just the ability to survive a 21-6 run, another stellar game in a string of spectacular outings by guard Jerome Coleman and a miracle 3-point bank shot.

That’s all.

The Syracuse men’s basketball team’s 68-65 loss to Rutgers last night in front of a sellout crowd of 8,007 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center had more twists than the most complex maze. Herve Lamizana provided the final dagger, banking in a 3-point shot with 17 seconds left and the shot clock winding down.

“You could see they were heartbroken,” Coleman said. “You could see they weren’t coming back.”

The Orangemen might wish they had never made their comeback to set up Lamizana’s heave.

“Sometimes people will tell you they’d rather lose by 10 points than lose like we did,” SU freshman Gerry McNamara said.

On the possession after Lamizana’s shot, SU freshman Carmelo Anthony dribbled the ball toward the right wing and tried to match Lamizana’s off-balance prayer with one of his own. Anthony’s, though, hit the front of the rim, allowing Rutgers to run out the clock.

Still, the fact that the Orangemen were in that position at all was a minor miracle.

Midway through the second half, the Scarlet Knights led Syracuse 47-35 after Jerome Coleman buried three consecutive 3-pointers, forcing Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim to use a timeout.

First, Coleman fired over McNamara’s head from outside the top of the key. Then, he moved over to the right wing and swished another. On the third, he took a step back, shot, and hopped down the court, shaking his right hand like it was burning.

In the process, Coleman singed Syracuse for nine of his game-high 31 points. He was aided by Lamizana (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Ricky Shields (14 points).

“When (Coleman) feels it, I don’t care where or when he’s at,” Rutgers coach Gary Waters said. “He got hot. For some reason, they were playing a couple feet off him. He’d pass, get the ball back and be surprised he could shoot.”

Coleman’s performance against the SU zone defense shouldn’t have surprised the Orangemen. Coleman scored 27 against SU last year — including seven 3-pointers — during the Orangemen’s Feb. 2 loss at Rutgers.

After a poor start to his season, during which he was sapped of energy and strength by a flu-like illness (he lost 12 pounds), Coleman has scored 30 points in two consecutive games.

After Coleman’s run, Syracuse, which turned the ball over 17 times to the Scarlet Knights’ full-court press defense, turned to some pressure of its own.

The Scarlet Knights rushed shots, allowing Anthony and SU center Jeremy McNeil to score easy baskets in transition. After Rutgers eventually maneuvered through Syracuse’s full-court press, McNeil stuffed the Scarlet Knights at the rim.

While protecting SU’s basket, McNeil collected seven blocks, helping the Orangemen on their 21-6 run.

The anemic Syracuse offense, considered the team’s strength at the start of the year, accumulated a horrid assist-to-turnover ratio, turning the ball over 17 times to eight assists, while making only 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

McNamara (12 points) and Anthony (17 points) were the only SU starters who scored in double-figures. The normally reliable Hakim Warrick was bullied by RU’s Sean Axani and managed just six points.

Thanks to their defensive presence, the Orangemen managed a 56-53 lead before the Scarlet Knights got hot again. Each team traded runs until the end of the game.

“We were out of it and made a great comeback,” Boeheim said. “We had no business being in this game.”

The second half back-and-forth battle erased memories of a putrid first half, in which both teams had more turnovers than assists. Syracuse had 12 giveaways, but Rutgers kept the score tied, 27-27, at halftime by shooting 10-for-38 from the field, including 2 of 11 on three-point attempts.

All of which set the stage for Lamizana’s heroics.

“I was too open for it not to go in,” Lamizana said. “I was confident, almost cocky. I knew it was going in.”

If he did, he was the only one.

“That’s a shot we give to him,” Boeheim said. “He misses that 99 out of 100 times. They had a lucky shot to beat us. I doubt anyone in that locker room will tell you that’s a skilled shot.”

Published on January 29, 2003 at 12:00 pm