SU Hosts Rhode Island On Sunday
11/29/2003 12:27:53 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, NY -- The #7/7 Orangemen will look to rebound from its first-ever season-opening Dome loss when they host Rhode Island on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 1 p.m in the Carrier Dome.
The defending NCAA champions lost to Charlotte on Nov. 26, 96-92. Sophomore Gerry McNamara scored a career-high 34 points, including a school-record tying eight three-pointers in the contest. Junior Hakim Warrick netted 20 points and sophomore Billy Edelin added 13 to go along with a personal-best 10 assists. It was Edelin’s first career double-double.
The Orangemen (0-1) battled back from a 23-point second half deficit to get within three points of the 49ers, 93-90, with 20 seconds to play, but Charlotte’s Eddie Basden connected on three-of-four free-throws down the stretch to seal the contest.
McNamara’s eight three-point field goals tied the SU record set by Preston Shumpert against Connecticut in 2001.
Rhode Island (3-1) is coming off back-to-back wins versus Louisiana-Monroe (78-46) and Miami (54-53) en route to the Las Vegas Tournament title. The Rams are led by Dawan Robinson who is averaging 15.5 points per game. He scored a game-high 16 points in Rhode Island’s victory against Louisiana-Monroe and posted a season-high 26 in the squad’s only loss, a 74-68 defeat at the hands of Lubbock Christian.
The Rams are averaging 72.2 points per game, while holding their opponents to 62.5. Jamaal Wise is the team’s leading rebounder averaging 6.3 boards per game.
The Orangemen lost last season’s opening game, 70-63, versus Memphis and then reeled off 11 consecutive victories. Syracuse posted a record of 5-0 after losses in 2002. The last time SU lost back-to-back contests came at the end of the 2001-02 season. Syracuse lost to South Carolina (66-59) and Temple (65-54) in that year’s NIT.
SU leads the all-times series against the Rams 5-1, including a 2-0 record at home. In the last meeting, the Orangemen defeated Rhode Island 92-66 in the second round of the 1995 Rainbow Classic. John Wallace led the Orange with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
