Syracuse University
Siena
Forth Sets Career High in 74-61 Win Against Siena
12/20/2003 6:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Junior center #Craig Forth# tallied a personal-best 14 points in the #19/21 Orangemen's 74-61 victory versus Siena Saturday in the Carrier Dome.
Forth was 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from the free-thow line in the game. He also added six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 33 minutes. He surpassed his previous career-best of 12 points, which he set against Georgetown and Seton Hall in 2001-02.
Syracuse (5-1) took a 20-16 lead midway through the first half. After a free-throw by Siena's Brent Sniezyk and jumper by Michael Haddix cut the Orange's lead to 20-19, SU went on a 22-8 run to close the first half and take a 42-27 advantage into the break. Forth had five straight points in the burst and after a floater by junior #Josh Pace#, Forth connected on a free-throw for his eighth point of the first half.
Haddix opened the second half with a basket, but another Pace basket and the first three of the game by sophomore #Gerry McNamara# extended SU's margin to 18, 47-29 at 17:49. Freshman #Louie McCroskey# gave the Orange its biggest advantage of the contest, 58-37, but the Saints wouldn't go away. Siena (3-5) responded with a 14-4 run of its own to cut the lead to 11, 62-51 with 7:08 left to play. A Haddix layup made the score 66-57, but buckets by Pace and sophomore #Billy Edelin# gave SU an 11-point edge with less than two minutes remaining and junior #Hakim Warrick#'s thunderous jam with eight seconds to go gave the Orangeman the 13-point triumph.
Warrick notched his second consecutive double-double with 24 points and 10 boards. McNamara added 12 points, including two three-pointers. He now has 101 treys in the his career. McNamara is the 10th Orangemen to connect on at least 100 three's in his career.
Michael Haddix paced Siena with 19 points and Austin Andrews contributed 14 markers.
The Orangemen outrebounded the Saints 43-34. Siena entered the game averaging 46 boards per contest. Syracuse also forced 17 turnovers and converted them into 20 points. The Orangemen got most of their points underneath, tallying 50 points in the paint to 32 for Siena.
Syracuse is 5-0 against the Saints all-time and it's the 25th consecutive triumph for the Orangemen against schools from New York State. It is the second straight win for the Orangemen against a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) oppoent.
SU head coach #Jim Boeheim# is 37-0 in his career against teams that now compete in the MAAC.
The win was the 658th of Boeheim's career. He moved past Ralph Miller into 20th on the all-time NCAA Division I wins ledger.
The Orangemen will host their fourth straight New York State institution when they take the floor against Colgate on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
