Matt Gorman chipped in 10 points in his fourth career start Dec. 22 versus Hofstra.
Orange Hosts Bonnies in Final Non-Conference Tilt
12/29/2006 9:12:53 AM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - With the BIG EAST opener on the horizon, the SU men’s basketball team (10-3) hosts Atlantic 10 opponent St. Bonaventure (3-9) on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 7:00 p.m. in the Carrier Dome in its final non-conference game of the season. Syracuse defeated Hofstra in its last action on December 22 while St. Bonaventure has been idle since losing to Canisius on December 23, 80-71.
Tickets for the game can be purchased on suathletics.com by clicking here or by calling the Carrier Dome Box Office at 1-888-DOMETIX. It will also be televised live in the Syracuse area on Time Warner Ch. 26. Live streaming audio and video of the contest is also available on suathletics.com via Orange All-Access.
The Orange used a balanced attack to take down the Pride. Five players scored in double figures, including senior Demetris Nichols whose 20-point performance vaulted him to the top of the BIG EAST scoring list (19.6). Coach Boeheim’s club also got solid contributions from sophomore Eric Devendorf (16 points), junior Josh Wright (12 points), freshman Paul Harris (12 points) and senior Matt Gorman (10 points).
Devendorf hit a career-best 11 free throws in the game and helped SU to a 33-for-40 showing at the charity stripe (82.5 percent). It was the most foul shots the Orange converted 39 in an overtime win against St. John’s in 2001. SU is shooting 71.5 percent from the free-throw line as a team (259-362) and has hit at least 80 percent of its foul shots in each of the last three games. The last time Syracuse finished a season with a team free-throw percentage better than 70 percent was in 2000-01.
Wright scored 11 of his 12 points in the first half and Gorman, making his fourth start of the season connected on a pair of 3-pointers versus Hofstra. He filled in for senior Terrence Roberts who did not dress for the game because of an injured knee.
The Bonnies opened the campaign with wins in three of its first five outings but have fallen on hard times since with seven straight losses.
Anthony Solomon, a former assistant at Notre Dame, is in his fourth season at St. Bonaventure.
Junior forward Michael Lee has been an emerging performer for the Bonnies. In addition to tallying squad-best 24 and 19 points in the team’s last two games, respectively, he is averaging 12.4 per game. Junior guard Zarryon Fereti leads the team with a 12.7 scoring average. Senior forward Paul Williams (12.4) rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers for the visitors and leads the team in rebound average (9.1). Sophomore swingman A.J. Hawkins (9.6 ppg.) is the only Bonnie to start all 12 games this season. Nine different players have been with the first string.
Syracuse has a 21-3 advantage in the all-time series with St. Bonaventure. The Orange has won the last 11 encounters, including a 91-67 triumph in December, 2004. SU’s streak of 46 straight wins against New York State institutions is also on the line Saturday.
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