McNamara Scores Season-High 38 Points in 90-80 SU Victory Against Davidson

Sunday, December 18

Carrier Dome

1:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Davidson

Gerry McNamara was one three pointer shy of tying his own school record for three's in a game. He was 8-of-12 from long range against the Wildcats.

McNamara Scores Season-High 38 Points in 90-80 SU Victory Against Davidson

12/18/2005 3:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SU Player Quotes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Senior guard Gerry McNamara and junior forward Demetris Nichols combined for 64 points in a 90-80 Syracuse basketball victory against Davidson (6-3) in front of 16,171 at the Carrier Dome. McNamara tallied a season-high 38 points off an 11-of-20 shooting performance from the field, including an 8-of-12 effort from three-point range. It was the most points for McNamara since his career-high 43 against BYU in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, Nichols finished with a career-high 26 points. He was 8-of-14 from the field and made four shots from beyond the three-point arc.

As a team, Syracuse (8-2) canned a season-high 14 three-pointers and shot the ball a season-best 53.8 percent from beyond the arc. The 14 three's tied the Syracuse team record for most three pointers at the Carrier Dome.

At halftime, Syracuse and Davidson were tied at 36-36. The Orange opened it up to an 11-point lead (58-47) after going on a 22-11 run to start the second half. McNamara, Nichols and freshman guard Eric Devendorf were responsible for all 22 points during the run. Devendorf scored nine points by hitting a pullup 16-foot jump shot, a layup after a steal, a three-pointer and a drive in the lane. McNamara nailed two three's and scored a layup off an inbounds play, while Nichols hit two free throws and completed a three-point play. He finished off a fast break pass from McNamara and made the ensuing foul shot to give SU a 58-47 lead with 13:51 remaining.

Boris Meno pulled the Wildcats within seven points twice during the second half. He finished a pass from Jason Morton with 12:43 remaining to cut the Orange's advantage to 58-51. He tipped in a Brendan Winters' missed three with 11:19 remaining to cut the score to 64-57. Davidson would never get any closer.

SU stretched its lead to 13 points three different times during the game's final 10 minutes. McNamara hit his seventh three-point field goal with 10:20 on the clock to give the hosts a 72-59 lead. He sank two free throws with 6:19 remaining to push the score to 76-63. With 1:32 left, McNamara dished off to junior forward Terrence Roberts, who dunked the ball to give Syracuse an 84-71 edge.

The high scorer for Davidson was Ian Johnson who finished with 23 points, including 15 in the first half. Winters and Matt McKillop each scored 15 points. Winters set the school record for consecutive free throws made (37-straight) after he successfully sank each shot during his first six trips to the line. He ended up six-of-seven from the charity stripe.

Syracuse returns to action on Wednesday, December 21, when it hosts Illinois-Chicago at 7 p.m.