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Syracuse University
Cornell
Syracuse Extends Winning Streak to Eight
12/3/2008 9:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 16/20 Syracuse (8-0) came back from a 16-point deficit to continue its eight-game winning streak with an 88-78 victory against Cornell. The Orange is off to its best start since the 2001-02 season when it opened its campaign with eight consecutive wins.
Sophomore guard Jonny Flynn led the Orange with 24 points and six assists. Junior forward Paul Harris added 21 points and a squad-leading nine rebounds. Joining Flynn and Harris in double-figures were junior guards Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins with 15 and 11 points, respectively, and junior center Arinze Onuaku with 12 points. Rautins added six assists.
The visiting Big Red grabbed a 13-6 lead less than five minutes in. Flynn answered with a three, but Cornell went on an 11-0 run to bring the score to 25-9. It represented the largest deficit the Orange had faced this season. Cornell guard Ryan Wittman, who finished with a game-high 33 points, had 11 of the Big Red's first 25 points.
Cornell led by 14, 33-19, when the Orange mounted a 10-0 run, keyed by six points from Harris. The Big Red pushed the margin back up to 10, 40-30, but SU used four free throws from Devendorf to narrow the halftime lead to 40-35.
Onuaku opened the second half with a jumper and free throw to bring the Orange within two. Syracuse finally took the lead for the first time in the game at the 17:36 mark. Sophomore forward Rick Jackson stole the ball and passed ahead to Flynn for a dunk. He followed it up moments later with a defensive rebound and a feed to Devendorf to bring the score to 44-42 in favor of SU.
From there, the Orange and the Big Red traded the lead until Wittman put home back-to-back threes to give Cornell a 51-46 advantage. The Orange tied it up soon after, 53-53, thanks to Flynn's second dunk of the game and three-pointer from Rautins. A layup by Harris at the 10:03 mark gave SU the lead for good.
Despite Cornell again coming within five of tying the game with 5:23 on the clock, the Orange maintained control and built its lead back up to 11 points with two and change to play. Seven Orange free throws in the final 2:04 secured the victory for Syracuse.
The rally from a 16-point deficit was Syracuse's best since trailing Rutgers by 20 points the unit eventually won in 2004-05.
Despite shooting only 38.5 percent (10-26) in the first half, Syracuse came out of the locker room after the break to shoot a stifling 75 percent (18-24) from the field. SU outscored the Big Red 46-20 in the paint and tallied 18 fast-break points to Cornell's seven.
Wittman, in addition to tallying a career-high 33, tied the school record with nine three-pointers. Geoff Reeves added 15 points and Jeff Foote contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Only Colgate has made more appearances on the Syracuse men's basketball schedule than Cornell. Syracuse won its 31st straight versus the Big Red in the 116th meeting between the two clubs.
Syracuse is back in action after a ten-day break on Saturday, December 13 in a 12:00 p.m. matchup with Long Beach State. It is the fourth game in Syracuse's six-game homestand. 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.
