Orange-Dolphin series as division one opponents begins with a backyard brawl.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team found itself in a backyard brawl against crosstown opponent Le Moyne in its season-opener, ultimately surviving the scare to win 86-82. The Orange were tested defensively, but made enough to plays late against Le Moyne’s 2-3 zone to begin its 125th season with a win.
Delaware transfer Jyare Davis led the way for Syracuse by finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds, good for a double-double. Chris Bell finished with 20 points, including two clutch free throws with six seconds left to put the Orange up four.
Adrian Autry went with a starting five of Jaquan Carlos, JJ Starling, Bell, Donnie Freeman and Eddie Lampkin.
Syracuse played sluggish from the opening tip on both ends of the floor, but particularly on the defensive end. The Orange struggled to keep guys in front, also over-extending on closeouts and over-helping. The Orange played most of the first half without transfer center Eddie Lampkin. The Colorado transfer was whistled for his second foul at the 13:51 mark and did not return the rest of the half. Autry replaced him with Petar Majostorovic and Davis also came in at that same juncture, replacing Freeman.
The first pair of substitutions provided some energy off the bench. A backdoor cut by Majstorovic off of a feed from Davis led to a three point play, cutting the lead to 17-11. Then, a Majstorovic steal near mid-court eventually led to a Davis three point play to make it 17-14. Elijah Moore came in replacing Starling at the 12-minute mark and Lucas Taylor rounded out the rotation.
Syracuse fought back to tie the game at 21 on a Starling three. The junior guard moved to the point guard position with Carlos out but the Hofstra transfer didn’t sit long. Still, the Syracuse defense relented to Le Moyne as Autry tried to find a small-ball lineup that worked, eventually settling with Freeman in the middle and Davis at the four. Davis would keep the first half respectable for the Orange as he provided an interior resistance on defense and a rebounding presence. Syracuse took a 30-29 lead at the under four minute media timeout, but the Dolphins would end the half on a 12-6 run.
Le Moyne took at 41-36 lead into the half. The Dolphins shot 15-32 from the floor in the first half as Syracuse shot 12-38.
Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Syracuse punched first out of the intermission as Lampkin scored inside and Starling finished at the rim, but former West Genessee player Will Amica knocked down a three to extend Le Moyne’s lead to eight.
From there, Syracuse’s two returning starters from a season ago began to emerge offensively. A Starling jumper that found the bottom of the net was followed up by a Bell three point play in transition, drawing Zek Tekin’s third foul. Syracuse cut into Le Moyne’s lead, 48-45.
With Le Moyne ironically going 2-3 zone against Syracuse, Bell connected on back-to-back jumpers — the latter a transition three — in between an Amica lauyp to tie the game at 50 with over 14 minutes to go. Le Moyne took the lead right back, jumping back out to a 55-50 edge.
It was back and forth down the stretch as the defense tightened up on both sides. Le Moyne stayed in the 2-3 zone against Syracuse as the Orange elected to go with Freeman in the high-post offensively. A Bell three gave Syracuse a 65-60 lead, but Le Moyne tied the game at 65. A Tekin layup gave Le Moyne the lead 68-67 with 6:31 remaining, forcing Autry to call timeout. Le Moyne coach Nate Champion briefly switched to man defense on the other side of the timeout.
In crunch time Autry changed his lineup to go with Starling, Carlos, Davis, Bell and Lampkin. Le Moyne went back to the 2-3 zone, so Autry countered with a 1-4 set offensively with Davis and Lampkin both operating at the high-post. That set had success with Davis as both a scorer and passer to Lampkin as the Orange jumped out to a three possession lead late.
Le Moyne wouldn’t go down quietly.
A perilous behind the back pass by Tekin found Trent Mosquera for a transition three that cut Syracuse’s lead to two with 53 seconds left.
Syracuse countered with Starling, who scored at the tin to bring Syracuse’s lead back up to three but on the next play Tekin found Freds Pauls Bagatskis for three. Le Moyne cut Syracuse’s lead to 83-82 with 23.5 seconds left. Next, Le Moyne fouled Carlos, who split a pair at the line with 20 seconds left.
On the ensuing play, a Dolphin turnover was recovered by Bell and all but sealed the deal. Bell was fouled and calmly knocked down a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach with six seconds left as Syracuse escaped with a 86-82 win.
Final Stats
Davis led the way for Syracuse with a 22 point, 12 rebound double-double. Freeman also finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Bell scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting while Starling recorded 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Syracuse finished 31-72 (43.1%) from the floor and 4-22 (18.2%) from outside. Le Moyne shot 28-57 (49.1%) from the floor and 9-25 (36%) from three.
No Chance
Syracuse was without Chance Westry in this game, who continues to miss time due to an illness. Westry was in the building Monday night but did not warm up with the team.
Le Moyne was without guards AJ Dancler and Darrick Jones Jr.
Next Up
Syracuse returns home next Tuesday to take on Colgate. That game tips at 7 pm from the JMA Wireless Dome and will be available for streaming on ACC Network Extra.