Jackson Records Career-high 14 Points in 82-60 Orange Win

Wednesday, December 17

Carrier Dome

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Canisius

Sophomore Rick Jackson tallied a career-best 14 points and had eight rebounds against the Golden Griffins.

Jackson Records Career-high 14 Points in 82-60 Orange Win

12/17/2008 9:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Sophomore Rick Jackson recorded a career-high 14 points to lead the Orange and pulled down eight rebounds as 11/11 Syracuse (10-1) recorded an 82-60 victory against Canisius. With 16,262 Orange fans on hand, head coach Jim Boeheim moved into sole possession of ninth place among Division I Head Coaches with his 781^st collegiate victory.

Joining Jackson on the leaderboard was junior Paul Harris who turned in his fifth double-double performance of the season and the 24^th of his career with 13 points and 11 boards. Sophomore Jonny Flynn and junior Arinze Onuaku each added 12 points, and junior Eric Devendorf rounded out the SU double-digit scorers with 10 points.

The Golden Griffins (3-7) opened the game with an 8-2 run before the Orange fought back to tie the score, 8-8, courtesy of free throws from Flynn and senior Kristof Ongenaet and a layup from Jackson. Syracuse finally took the lead, 16-14, about eight minutes in after scoring six-straight points, three each from first Harris and then freshman Kris Joseph.

With 7:17 to go in the first half, freshman Mookie Jones nailed a three-pointer to give SU 27-22 advantage. However, Canisius fought back to within one point of the Orange by the 5:20 mark, 29-28, after Canisius' Frank Turner fed Elton Frazier for a dunk. A minute later, SU responded with the same as Devendorf sent a pass to a leaping Harris for the slam.

Syracuse closed out the first half on a 12-3 run which began on a three-pointer from junior Andy Rautins with 3:15 before the break. Flynn and Onuaku combined for the other nine points to send SU to the locker room with a 43-32 halftime lead.

The two teams were neck-in-neck in shooting during the first half, both making 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) from the field. The Orange, however, owned the free throw line making 81.3 percent (13-of-16), while the Griffins only made 37.5 percent (3-of-8).

The Orange opened the second half extending its first half ending run from 12-3 to 19-3 in the first two minutes. Canisius' Julius Coles finally cut SU's run off after tallying five-straight points. However, SU kept its momentum going and had built its lead to 21 with 12:48 to play.

For the remainder of the game, Syracuse maintained at least a 15-point advantage. The Orange closed the game shooting 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the field, having improved to 60.9 percent (14-of-23) in the second half. The Orange outrebounded the Golden Griffins 50-40, and outscored them 32-11 from the bench.

Leading Canisius was Coles with a game-high 18 points and six assists. Greg Logins was next for the Griffins with 17 points and Frazier added 10. Syracuse held Canisius to only 31.5 percent (23-of-73) shooting, including a 9-of-36 performance in the second period.

Syracuse hits the road for the final time in 2008 on Saturday, December 20 when it takes on 23/21 Memphis in a 6 p.m. matchup. The Orange is back at home in the Dome on Monday, December 22 when it hosts Coppin State at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at SUathletics.com, by phone at 1-800-DomeTix or in person at the Carrier Dome box office during regular business hours.