NEW YORK – For three games, Gerry McNamara waited. He wanted so desperately to perform like he knew he could. But for three games, he came up short.

Three long summer months spent away from basketball had caught up with McNamara, and his shooting percentage and scoring average took hits because of it.

But on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, glimpses of the old McNamara returned. He dove to the floor for loose balls. He took the ball hard to the basket. And he even got a few shots to fall.

McNamara’s best performance of the season came at the perfect time, as No. 6 Syracuse defeated No. 24 Memphis, 77-62, to win the 2004 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Championship in front of 5,119. The Orange won its first preseason tournament since winning the 2001 Preseason National Invitational Tournament.

The 6-foot-2 guard scored 21 points, 12 of which came in the second half, earning all-tournament honors. The junior keyed a 26-11 run which Syracuse used to close the game.

‘The time off hurt me,’ McNamara said. ‘Mentally, I wasn’t there. Tonight I had the intensity and the swagger.’And so did SU’s two other veteran players, senior forwards Josh Pace and Hakim Warrick – who won the tournament’s most valuable player award.. For the second straight night, SU found itself in a tight game at the half. While Thursday night the Orange took over the game right after halftime, Syracuse (4-0) took longer to settle in Friday.

But with 13:11 left in the second half, Memphis head coach John Calipari picked up a technical foul for arguing what he felt was missed foul call. McNamara sank both free throws and then drilled a 3-pointer.

‘(The technical) meant two points,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘It can go either way after that.’

Last night, though, the rest of the game definitely went the Orange’s way. The Tigers (3-1) rallied to tie the game twice after the technical, but never again led.

Syracuse’s three veterans are largely to thank for that. All but 10 of SU’s 46 second-half points came from the trio.

‘You could tell they are more of a veteran team than us,’ Calipari said.

Perhaps most important, though, were the 12 that came from McNamara. He still struggled from the field, hitting just 2 of 6 3-pointers and 5 of 11 shots overall. But McNamara found a way to get his points, mainly by driving to the basket.

He repeatedly found his way to the free-throw line, where he finished 9-for-10. His strongest drive came with 2:39 remaining. He took the ball strong down the lane, bounced off the massive body of 250-pound Duane Erwin and somehow layed the ball in. He then converted the free throw for a 3-point play, giving the Orange a 70-59 cushion.

‘It’s something I tried to do tonight,’ McNamara said of driving to the basket. ‘(Thursday night) I settled. I have the ability to go to the basket. I played a lot smarter tonight.’

The victory gave SU back-to-back wins over Top 25 competition. Syracuse’s performance the past two weeks seemed to back up all the preseason hype surrounding the Orange.

In 2001, after SU’s Preseason NIT victory, the Orange faltered and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. While this year’s team is far more talented than that group, it knows the season is still young.

But with the veteran leadership displayed last night, SU will be tough to beat.

‘We’ve won preseason tournaments before, but I don’t think we have had three tough games in a row like this before,’ Boeheim said. ‘Most teams don’t get that luxury (of having veterans). We have veterans who make big plays down the stretch.’

Published on November 27, 2004 at 12:00 pm