Kristof Ongenaet has played heavy minutes off the bench in SU's last three games.
Orange Closes Out Non-Conference Slate Versus Northeastern Sunday
12/28/2007 6:06:34 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange (9-3) completes the non-conference portion of its 2007-08 season on Sunday, Dec 30 with a 1 p.m. matchup against Northeastern (4-6) at the Carrier Dome. The Orange has won all five previous pairings with the Huskies, including an 81-58 decision last season. Sunday’s game is the final non-league pairing before SU tips off BIG EAST play at home on Wednesday, Jan. 2 against St. John’s.
Tickets for the Northeastern game 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).
Voice of the Orange Matt Park and former SU standout Gene Waldron will have the call on the Syracuse ISP Network’s flagship (TK-99.5 FM) with the pre-game show beginning an hour before tipoff. The radio network broadcast is available live on Orange All-Access. In addition, Sunday’s game will be televised live in Syracuse and the surrounding area on Time Warner 26.
Syracuse used its size to cruise to an 80-64 victory against Cornell in its last outing. The Orange hauled in 52 rebounds with 6-11 forward Donte Greene (Baltimore, Md.) and 6-8 postman Kristof Ongenaet (Ghent, Belgium) leading the way with 10 each. The Big Red managed just 37 caroms in the contest.
The win proved to be a coming out party for Ongenaet, who just missed his first career double-double, scoring nine points to go along with his 10 boards. The junior college transfer was 3-for-6 from the field and logged 22 minutes for the third consecutive outing.
While Greene and Ongenaet crashed the boards, guard Jonny Flynn (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) paced the Orange with 21 points. Center Arinze Onuaku (Lanham, Md.) contributed 18 and continued his hot shooting, connecting on 8-of-10 attempts from the field. Onuaku has made 30 of his last 33 field goals and leads the BIG EAST in field goal percentage (69.1).
The Cornell victory elevated Jim Boeheim into a tie with longtime Western Kentucky mentor Ed Diddle for 11th on the Division I all-time wins list (759). Boeheim can pass Diddle with a triumph Sunday against the Huskies.
While Boeheim had guided the Orange for more than three decades, Bill Coen is in just his second year piloting the Northeastern program. Coen, a longtime assistant to Al Skinner at Rhode Island and then Boston College, is a graduate of nearby Hamilton College. He has guided the Huskies to a 17-25 record in his brief tenure and his staff includes former Hamilton coach Tom Murphy.
The Huskies have been challenged by a difficult non-conference slate that has included eight road encounters in 10 contests. Northeastern has suffered narrow defeats in road tilts at Illinois (63-55), Maryland (74-72, OT), Connecticut (57-55) and in its most recent outing at Boston College (57-55) on December 22. A BC basket with two seconds left gave the Eagles the victory.
Sophomores Matt Janning (16.4 ppg.) and Manny Adako (11.1 ppg.) have been the top two offensive threats for Northeastern this season. Center Nkem Ojougboh, a classmate, leads the team in rebounding (8.4 rpg.) and is third in scoring (9.6 ppg.).
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