#17/14 Orange Out-Duels Charlotte, 79-67

Wednesday, November 22

Carrier Dome

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Charlotte

Demetris Nichols led the Orange with 21 points against the 49ers.

11/22/2006 10:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Coach Boeheim Quotes

SU Player Quotes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The #17/14 Syracuse Orange (5-0) outscored the Charlotte 49ers 48-37 in the second half to seal its fifth win of the season, 79-67. Syracuse made a season-high 11 three-point field goals -- five in the first half, six in the second. The 49ers also made 11, but attempted 37 long balls.

Senior forward Demetris Nichols led Syracuse with 21 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocks, despite fouling out with three minutes left. Nichols made five three-pointers, one shy of his career-high. Freshman forward Paul Harris scored a career-best 17 points and finished one rebound shy of his third double-double of the season, pulling down nine boards. Sophomore forward Andy Rautins had a career-best six rebounds for the Orange.

Charlotte established a slow pace at the beginning of the contest, working the ball around the Syracuse zone. The teams traded three-pointers as guard De-Angelo Alexander made one from long range, but Eric Devendorf answered with a triple of his own. A free throw from Roberts gave Syracuse its first lead of the contest. Alexander gathered an offensive rebound and made a layup down low, but Nichols made a turn-around jumper to keep the Orange on top. Charlotte forward E.J. Drayton made a three and at the 15:32 mark the 49ers were on top, 8-6.

With Charlotte up 10-6 at 14:28, senior forward Matt Gorman, who made his first career start at center, took a return pass from Roberts and canned a three-pointer. Wright then found Devendorf with a bounce pass for a layup on a fastbreak to give Syracuse the lead again, 11-10.

Charlotte hit a free throw to tie the game. Rautins pulled down an offensive rebound, but the outlet pass was intercepted by Alexander. Alexander took the ball in for a layup, but Rautins stood tall and drew the charge. The 49ers opened up an 8-2 run, as Syracuse missed three shots and committed two turnovers, to push their lead to six, 19-13.

Harris hit a layup and Nichols made a long three from the right side to pull the Orange back within one at 6:25. Guard Leemire Goldwire then hit a pull-up three to give the 49ers a four-point edge. Guard Carlos Williams' three-pointer at 4:42 gave Charlotte its biggest lead of the half, 27-20.

The Orange came alive from behind the arc to get back into the game as Nichols and Rautins made back-to-back threes to cut the Charlotte lead to one point. Harris made a free throw to tie it up and then led a fastbreak, throwing a no-look bounce pass to Wright who made a layup to give Syracuse its first lead since 14:28, 29-27.

The lead did not last long as Alexander connected on another three-pointer, but Harris was good on a pair of foul shots and Syracuse held a one-point advantage at halftime, 31-30. The Orange had 10 turnovers in the first half, which led to 13 Charlotte points. Charlotte hit the glass hard in the first half, out-rebounding SU 22-19; with 10 of those boards coming on the offensive end.

Charlotte used two free throws at the beginning of the half to retake the lead, but Nichols continued his hot shooting, hitting a jumper and two three-pointers to lead the Orange on a 10-2 run in the first 1:30. Harris capped the run with a one-handed dunk off a pass from Wright. Nichols made his fifth three of the game and Wright made two free throws to put the Orange up by 10 for the first time in the game, 46-36.

Guard Ian Anderson made two-straight threes to pull Charlotte within six, but Devendorf scored four points, Harris hit a layup and Syracuse maintained a 10-point advantage with under 12 minutes left, 52-42. After each team hit a three, Devendorf found Roberts underneath for a two-handed jam.

Gorman connected on his second three-pointer of the night to spark a 12-3 run for the Orange, as its lead swelled to 71-52. Wright scored seven-straight points during the stretch and Charlotte went more than seven minutes without a basket. After two 49er free throws, the Orange broke out and Harris threw and alley-oop pass to Roberts for a dunk.

Syracuse visits Canisius for an Empire State battle at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.