Maybe it wasn’t much, but Karen Graf and Gina Cravedi needed to show their appreciation.

So, when the Syracuse men’s basketball team triumphantly returned to Manley Field House yesterday, the pair of Syracuse University sophomores brought a Tupperware bin full of sugar cookies frosted with the number of each player.

‘They just mean so much to the community,’ Graf said. ‘We wanted to do what we could to show we’re thankful.’

A throng of about 250 bearing gifts, ‘Let’s Go Orange’ placards and pens ready for autographs couldn’t have agreed more, as Syracuse welcomed home its national champion Orangemen.

Despite having only two players — Gerry McNamara and Matt Gorman — take their cookies, braving freezing temperatures and coming up empty in their hunt for autographs, Graf and Cravedi said welcoming the Orangemen was worth the wait and the $10 they spent on baking supplies at Wegman’s.

Cravedi and Graf, the first fans to descend upon Manley’s parking lot, showed up at 2 p.m., about two hours before SU’s red, white and blue Coach USA bus rolled into the lot. When the Orangemen got off the bus, SU head coach Jim Boeheim and captain Kueth Duany each addressed the crowd for about two minutes.

The Orangemen’s charted flight touched down at Syracuse Hancock International Airport at about 3:15 p.m. with no fanfare. The airport, wanting to avoid problems with crowd control, didn’t release the arrival place or time for SU’s charter. After getting off the plane, players, coaches and staff immediately hopped on a bus and headed to Manley with a five-car police escort.

There, the small-but-appreciative crowd bestowed the Orangemen a hero’s welcome. Players signed autographs and chatted up fans before retreating into Manley.

After about 15 minutes, the Orangemen began to depart Manley. McNamara, navigating his black Subaru Outback with Gorman in the passenger seat, received the largest cheer, especially after stopping to snag a cookie.

When Gorman stepped slightly out of the Subaru to grab his and McNamara’s cookies, the freshmen duo chuckled and thanked Graf and Cravedi.

Hakim Warrick, riding shotgun with Andrew Kouwe in the walk-on’s black sport utility vehicle, was given the second-biggest ovation.

Boeheim, who rode in the passenger seat of a blue sport utility vehicle driven by administrative assistant Clay McKnight, was one of the last to leave and almost went unnoticed by the crowd before someone spotted the coach and yelled.

Going unnoticed by anybody in Syracuse will be rare in ensuing weeks. Syracuse’s magical jaunt through the NCAA Tournament captivated the city, as shown by yesterday’s welcome.

‘This community needed a win like this for the sake of the community,’ said Steve Langdon, a fan who moved to Syracuse from Boston in 1995. ‘This is a good town. We’ve had to deal with the war, the depressed economy. It’s nice to be able to bring Syracuse together.’

Langdon brought his nephew, Stephen Langdon, and niece, Abby Langdon, to Manley. Stephen received a phone call from his uncle yesterday when he returned home from Onondaga Hill Middle School.

Stephen wanted to seek autographs, but he lost his pen, and his hands were too cold to take out of his pockets, he said.

‘I’m really excited because there haven’t been a lot of big things in Syracuse,’ said Stephen, 13, who has lived in Syracuse his whole life. ‘There’s no NBA team or anything, and the weather sucks. The whole school was really excited.’

Published on April 8, 2003 at 12:00 pm