Syracuse University
Cleveland State
Orange Winning Streak Snapped On Last-Second Shot By Cleveland State
12/15/2008 9:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In a game that featured 16 ties and 15 lead changes, a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer by Cleveland State's Cedric Jackson gave the Vikings a 72-69 victory against 11/11 Syracuse in front of 15,416 fans in the Carrier Dome on Monday, Dec. 15. The loss snapped the Orange's nine-game winning streak to open the 2008-09 campaign.
Syracuse overcame a five-point deficit in the final 27 seconds to tie the score with 2.2 ticks left on the clock. J'Nathan Bulluck had hit a three-pointer to give Cleveland State (7-4) a 69-64 lead, but Jonny Flynn answered with a three-point basket of his own with 22 seconds remaining. After a Vikings' turnover gave the ball back to the Orange with 15 seconds on the clock, Arinze Onuaku grabbed the offensive rebound on Andy Rautins' missed three-point attempt, and scored on a layup with three seconds remaining, tying the score at 69-69, and setting up Jackson's heave that banked in as the final horn sounded.
The Orange led by as many as six points in the second half as Paul Harris scored three straight points to spark an 8-2 SU scoring run that gave the Orange a 44-38 advantage with 12:21 remaining. Syracuse couldn't hold onto the margin as Cleveland State fought back and regained the lead on Jeremy Montgomery's three-pointer with 8:24 left in the game.
The teams played even in the first 20 minutes of action, which featured seven ties and nine lead changes. Cleveland State equaled its largest lead of the first half of four on two free throws by George Tandy with 1:20 on the clock. Eric Devendorf scored two of his team-high eight first-half points on a layup to cut the lead in half, before Rick Jackson slammed home Flynn's alley oop pass to tie the score with 18 seconds remaining on the clock. Flynn recorded a steal on Cleveland State's final possession of the half, but couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer.
Devendorf led the Orange with 17 points, while Flynn had 16 points and five assists. Harris recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, and Onuaku added 11 points and four blocked shots. Bulluck led all scorers with 18 points -- all in the second half. Norris Cole added 16 points, while Cedric Jackson finished with 13 for the Vikings.
Syracuse shot 54 percent (27-of-50) from the field, including 40 percent from three-point range (6-for-15), while Cleveland State was 30-for-68 (44.1 percent) from the field and 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from behind the three-point line. The Vikings held a slight advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Orange, 34-33.
The Orange returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Canisius at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome
