Watkins and Nichols Lead Orange Past Bonnies

Saturday, December 30

Carrier Dome

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

St. Bonaventure

Darryl Watkins scored a career-high 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and five blocks

12/30/2006 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Coach Boeheim Quotes

SU Player Quotes

Syracuse, N.Y.- Darryl Watkins scored a career-high 18 points and Demetris Nichols turned in his sixth-consecutive 20-point game to lead Syracuse (11-3) to a victory against St. Bonaventure (3-10), 82-70, in its final non-conference game of the season. Syracuse closed out its non-conference slate with an 11-3 record.

The victory was the 737th career triumph for Coach Jim Boeheim in his 993rd game at the SU helm. He ranks fifth among active Division I coaches in career victories.

Syracuse won its 47th consecutive game against a New York school and its 12th straight against St. Bonaventure. The streak dates back to the 1999-00 campaign.

Watkins was seven-of-10 from the field and four-of-six from the free throw line to collect his career-best scoring total. Syracuse was without Terrence Roberts for the second-consecutive game, but Watkins stepped up with nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Nichols, the leading scorer in the BIG EAST, led the Orange offense again with 22 points and added 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Eric Devendorf chipped in 17 points and four assists. Paul Harris recorded his third double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

Syracuse claimed a 6-4 lead in the first four minutes. Watkins made his presence felt down low as he had two uncontested dunks and two blocked shots. After a timeout, Harris pulled down a rebound and led the Orange on a fastbreak. He handed the ball off to Nichols, who penetrated and then found Harris underneath for a dunk. A layup by Nichols and a three-pointer from Andy Rautins put the Orange up by six, 13-7, at the 14:16 mark.

The Bonnies came up with two steals and got three offensive rebounds during an 8-0 run to claim the lead for the first time, 15-13. A.J. Hawkins converted two layups off offensive rebounds during that span. Watkins had another emphatic one-handed dunk to knot the game at 15 with 12:10 left in the half.

Michael Lee converted a three-point play to give St. Bonaventure a three-point edge, but then went more than five minutes without a field goal. Syracuse capitalized on the poor St. Bonaventure shooting with a 14-4 run. Nichols scored six during the stretch and St. Bonaventure missed six-consecutive shots. With less then five minutes left in the first half, the Orange led 30-23.

The Bonnies did not stay down for long, answering with an 11-0 run of their own over the next two minutes, to go up 34-30. Tyler Relph and Jourdan Morris provided all 11 points with three three-pointers and a layup. Morris, who had played just 24 minutes all season and had not scored, had 11 points in 11 minutes in the first half.

Syracuse was able to regain a one-point lead by halftime, 35-34, as Watkins threw down his fourth dunk and Josh Wright made a three-pointer. The Orange was just two-for-14 from beyond the arc, but dominated the inside game, outscoring the Bonnies 24-14 in the paint.

Watkins continued his strong performance into the second half, scoring Syracuse's first nine points to stretch the lead to 44-36. Watkins also drew two fouls on St. Bonaventure's Paul Williams, the team's biggest post presence, sending him to the bench with three personals. The Bonnies came back with five unanswered points to pull within three, 44-41, at 15:55.

Syracuse went on an 8-1 run to bring its lead to double-digits for the first time in the game, 52-42. Wright scored four points and came up with the steal that led to a Devendorf layup. Following a three-pointer by Relph, Devendorf was fouled as he nailed a leaning layup, made the free throw, and put the Orange back up by 10, 55-45, with 11:44 remaining in the game.

Devendorf and Nichols got the Orange going from long range, connecting on back-to-back threes, but St. Bonaventure stayed within 10 points with buckets on each ensuing possession. Syracuse maintained a comfortable advantage the rest of the game, leading by as many as 12 and never letting St. Bonaventure any closer than five points. Relph helped keep the Bonnies in the game, scoring five of his team-high 19 points in the final 3:45. Relph made five three-pointers in the game.

Syracuse opens BIG EAST play when #10/11 Pittsburgh visits the Dome on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. game. Syracuse and Pitt last met in the championship game of the BIG EAST Tournament last season.