Syracuse University
Wake Forest
Syracuse Wins Second Preseason NIT Title
12/14/2001 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK, NY -- Syracuse won its second Preseason NIT title, beating Wake Forest, 74-67, at Madison Square Garden. Junior DeShaun Williams scored 23 points en route to earning the tournament's Most Valuable Player Award. Williams turned in a 23-point performance in SU's semifinal victory against 11th-ranked Michigan State on Wednesday night.
The 18th-ranked Orangemen trailed by 10 points, 48-38, midway through the second half, when they implemented a full-court press and shut down the Demon Deacons' attack. SU outscored Wake Forest 16-2 to take a four-point lead, 54-50, and never relinquished the advantage.
Williams scored 13 points and had three steals in one seven-minute span of the second half. He accumulated 17 points and all six steals after the intermission. The Deacons managed to tie the score at 62-62 with 3:37 left but the Orangemen closed out the contest with a 12-5 run that featured four points and three steals from Williams.
Senior Preston Shumpert and junior Kueth Duany were Preseason NIT All-Tournament selections. Freshman forward Hakim Warrick had a career-high 11 points.
The victory extended Syracuse's November winning streak to 24 games, a stretch that dates back to November 1996. The Orangemen have now won four consecutive preseason tournaments -- the 1998 Maui Invitational, the 1999 NABC Classic, the 2000 Great Alaska Shootout and the 2001 Preseason NIT. Syracuse also won the Preseason NIT in 1988.
