Greene's Garden: Freshman Powers No. 21 Orange to 91-85 Triumph Against Washington in Big Apple

Friday, November 23

Madison Square Garden

4:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

NIT Tipoff Consolation vs. Washington

Freshman Donte' Greene matched a career-high 25 points and grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds en route to his first-career double-double.

Greene's Garden: Freshman Powers No. 21 Orange to 91-85 Triumph Against Washington in Big Apple

11/23/2007 7:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEW YORK – Freshman forward Donte' Greene's first-career double-double powered the No. 21 Orange to a 91-85 win against Washington in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday at Madison Square Garden. Greene matched a career-high with 25 points and grabbed a personal-best 10 rebounds in Syracuse's first-ever meeting with the Huskies.

Junior sharpshooter Eric Devendorf, who recorded his 1,000^th career point against Ohio State in the semifinal game on Wednesday, tallied 18 points and dished four assists. Devendorf scored in double-figures for the 10^th time in 11 career games played at The Garden.

Rookie court general Jonny Flynn tallied 16 points, highlighted by a marksmen-like 10-for-13 shooting display from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Paul Harris coupled 12 points with five rebounds, five steals and three assists. Harris electrified The Garden after leaping from the paint's third foul-line hash for a one-handed second-half highlight reel slam.

The Syracuse lead, which once ballooned to as much as 14 points in the second half, was sliced to five with four minutes left in regulation. Flynn sunk two free throws before finding Greene on a back-door cut that gave the Orange a momentary nine-point cushion with two and change remaining.

The Huskies refused to surrender while coming within one possession with 20 ticks left. Flynn toed the line and pushed the Orange lead to four at 89-85, never to be threatened again. Free throws from junior center Arinze Onuaku and Harris iced the Orange's fourth win of the season. Onuaku totaled nine points, corralled a season-best seven boards and swatted a career-high three shots.

Freshman combo guard Scoop Jardine scored a career-high seven points in a spirited 19 minutes of action off the Syracuse bench.

The Orange led 48-39 at the half, powered by a game-high 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from Greene. After trailing for more than 12 minutes in the opening stanza, Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim transitioned from his trademark 2-3 zone to a man-to-man set, coaxing the Huskies into momentum-swinging 13 first-half turnovers. SU outscored Washington 32-14 over the final 10 minutes.

Jardine's tear-drop runner with 10:38 remaining in the first half sparked the Orange to a 8-0 run that cut the Huskies' lead to just one, 25-24. Coming out of the ensuing media timeout, Greene's smooth turn-around jump shot and a three-on-one fast break dunk from Harris highlighted the Syracuse scoring spurt. Two free throws from Onuaku with slightly more than seven minutes remaining handed the Orange its first lead since the 16:21 mark.

SU extended its lead to 31-25 after Onuaku found a streaking Greene all alone for a one-handed dunk, prompting Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar to burn a 30 second timeout. Onuaku's full-court feed came seconds after thunderously flushing home a missed lay-in from Greene. The 6-9 tower of power scored eight points, with six coming from the free throw line in the first half.

The Orange (4-1) returns to the Carrier Dome on Wednesday, November 28 against Atlantic 10 foe Massachusetts at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

Tickets for Orange home games may be purchased on-line (click here), over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours. Once again, fans will be able to receive their tickets immediately after their purchase, using the "Print At Home" delivery method. For additional information, fans can contact the Carrier Dome Box Office toll free (888-366-3849) or (315-443-2121).