Knight & Day: Miserable Syracuse 1st half leads to 2nd half recovery
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – As Quincy Douby’s last-second 3-point attempt floated through the air, Syracuse junior guard Billy Edelin couldn’t help but flash back to the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s last trip to the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
Two years ago, Herve Lamizana’s 3-point shot sent the Orange home losers to the Scarlet Knights by three points. And with SU leading by two points, Edelin feared a 3-point dagger would again seal Syracuse’s fate.
‘We got lucky on the last play,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said of leaving Rutgers’ best shooter open. ‘Coming back from 20 down in the first half wasn’t luck.’
The comeback clinched SU’s best start in school history at 20-1.
Before Douby could become the goat, SU forward Terrence Roberts played the hero. With Syracuse (20-1, 7-0 Big East) trailing by one, the 6-foot-9 sophomore snatched a Josh Pace miss and layed it in off the glass, giving the Orange an 85-84 lead with seven seconds remaining.
Rutgers freshman Dan Waterstradt also fouled Roberts on the play, and Roberts converted the free throw, extending SU’s lead to two. With the crowd groaning, Roberts, the Jersey City, N.J., native, pumped his fists wildly in the air, one of several emotional displays by the Orange in the second half.
‘After I scored, I didn’t even know I got fouled,’ Roberts said. ‘I calmed myself down again and knocked (the free throw) down. I knew it was going in.’
Moments earlier, senior center Craig Forth had fouled out. If not for that, Roberts may never have entered the game. Other than the winning basket, Boeheim expressed disappointment with Roberts’ play.
‘(Roberts) tried to do too much in the first half,’ Boeheim said. ‘I told him on the last play we were going to penetrate. Terrence was right there in the perfect spot.’
In coming back from the 18-point deficit, SU had actually built up a six-point lead.The Knights (7-9, 1-5), though, slowly cut into that deficit. A Ricky Shields 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining gave Rutgers an 83-82 lead before an Edelin lay-up put SU ahead.
Waterstradt then converted two free throws, setting the stage for Roberts’ heroics and Douby’s miss.
‘It was by far the most emotional I’ve ever seen this team,’ Roberts said.
Early in the first half, it appeared The RAC would again become a house of horrors for the Orange. Coming in, SU had dropped four of five in the building. With the score knotted at 33 and 5:25 remaining the first half, Rutgers started a 21-3 run, which carried it to the half.
Emotional halftime speeches by Pace, Edelin, Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick fired up the Orange. SU responded after the intermission with a furious full-court press, keying a 9-0 run to start the half that cut the deficit in half. Rutgers eventually pushed the lead back to 11 before the Orange started to chip away.
‘It’s one thing to be losing,’ Edelin said. ‘But to not really be putting forth any effort is unacceptable.’
All that effort nearly went to waste on Douby’s 3-point attempt. Rutgers brought the ball to halfcourt and called timeout with less than four seconds remaining. After seeing Rutgers’ set, Boeheim countered with a timeout.
After originally showing man defense, Boeheim switched the defense to a zone, hoping to confuse Rutgers. But Douby quietly slipped free in the corner. The miss capped a 4-for-14 night for the usually reliable Douby.
‘He wasn’t having a great game,’ Boeheim joked. ‘Maybe that’s why we left him open.’
All joking aside, Boeheim said that had Douby’s shot gone down, he would have been angry with himself for not setting up a better defense.
Instead, Warrick and McNamara’s 21 points each earned Boeheim his 696th win.
‘I’m almost at a loss for words here,’ Boeheim said. ‘This is one of the best comebacks I’ve been a part of.’
Published on January 24, 2005 at 12:00 pm
