Strong First Half Lifts #9/7 SU, 89-74

Tuesday, November 12

7:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

(2-0)

Fordham University

(1-1)

Fordham

Syracuse

Jerami Grant recorded career highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds against Fordham.

11/12/2013 8:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Four Syracuse players reached double figures and the No. 9/7 Orange never trailed on its way to an 89-74 victory against Fordham on Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome.

Senior C.J. Fair led all Orange men with a career-high 26 points. Sophomore Jerami Grant posted the first double-double of his career with personal bests of 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Classmate DaJuan Coleman recorded the second double-double of his tenure with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Tyler Ennis joined the group in double digits with a season-high 16 points. Ennis also turned in team bests of five assists and four steals.

SU (2-0) finished with 15 steals and forced 19 turnovers, allowing the Orange to outscore the Rams (1-1) 23-6 off giveaways. Syracuse held a commanding, 48-29 advantage in rebounds. SU won the points in the paint battle, 38-16.

Syracuse began the game on a 12-2 run and held Fordham without a field goal for nearly five minutes. Fair tallied seven points during the opening stretch.

Leading 16-8, SU tallied 10 unanswered point to extend its margin to 26-8 behind six points from Grant. Syracuse continued to add to its advantage, and with nine seconds to go until the break, two Fair free throws gave the Orange its largest lead of the half at 46-20.

A pair of Coleman free throws to open the second half gave SU its largest advantage of the night at 48-21. The Orange matched that margin just over three minutes later at 58-31 with 16:09 remaining in the contest.

The visitors rallied and three by Fordham's Jon Severe closed the gap to 75-58 with 6:41 to play in the game. It came in the midst 17-4 stretch that saw the Rams climb within 78-66 with 3:33 remaining.

SU halted the run with seven points of its own, thanks to five from Fair, to push the lead back to 85-66 with 2:20 left to play. With just 41 second left, Fordham cut its deficit back to 13 but a pair of free throws and layup by Ennis in the final 22 seconds sealed the Orange victory.

Syracuse got off to a hot start, shooting 53.3-percent (16-of-30) in the first half and wound up 44.6-percent (29-of-65) overall. After limiting Fordham to 28.6-percent (6-of-21) from the floor and 16.7-percent (2-of-12) from beyond the arc in the opening half, the visitors began to heat up in the second half. The Rams torched the nets for 55.6-percent (15-of-27) from the field and 60-percent (9-of-15) from long range to finish the game at 43.8-percent (21-of-48) and 40.7-percent (11-of-27), respectively.

Branden Frazier paced Fordham with 33 points on 9-of-14 shooting overall, while going 4-of-6 from beyond the three point arc and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. Mandell Thomas ended up with team highs of eight rebounds and seven assists.

The Orange continues its home stand to open the season on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m. with Central New York foe Colgate.