.png)
Syracuse University
Le Moyne (exhibition)
Orange Hosts Le Moyne Tuesday In Last Preseason Tune-Up
11/2/2009 11:32:36 AM | Men's Basketball
Tickets | Live video/audio | Live Stats
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange men's basketball squad will conclude its preseason schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when it hosts Division II cross-town foe Le Moyne College in an exhibition game. Tip time is 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
Tickets for Sunday's exhibition are available online, by phone (1-888-DOMETIX) or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office. Fans not in attendance can watch the game live on Time Warner Sports in the Syracuse area or listen to the action via the Syracuse ISP Radio Network and its flagship TK 99 (99.5 FM). The video and audio streams of the broadcast will be available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All Access.
ABOUT THE ORANGE
Tuesday's contest is Syracuse's second exhibition game of the 2009-2010 season. The Orange opened its preseason schedule on Oct. 25 with a 97-54 win over Cal State Los Angeles. Syracuse led the Golden Eagles 44-19 at halftime and the team's offensive assault continued as the Orange scored 53 points in the second half.
Freshman James Southerland led all scorers with 19 points in his SU debut. Southerland was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and hit five 3-pointers. Junior forward Rick Jackson and redshirt sophomore Scoop Jardine each recorded double-doubles in the win. Jackson finished with 12 points and a game-best 12 rebounds. Jardine contributed 10 points and 11 assists.
Jardine split time with freshman Brandon Triche at point guard. Triche started and tallied eight points, while passing out three assists.
Junior forward Wesley Johnson saw his first action game action against Cal State Los Angeles after transferring from Iowa State and sitting out the 2008-2009 season. He registered eight points and eight boards. He also had a pair of steals and a game-best blocked shots.
Syracuse is ranked 25th in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and is receiving votes in the initial Associated Press Top 25 rankings.
SCOUTING LE MOYNE
The exhibition contest between Syracuse and Le Moyne marks the first time the Dolphins will take the floor in 2009-10. The game is the only preseason contest for Le Moyne, which begins its regular season at Caldwell on Sunday, Nov. 15.
The Dolphins were selected to finish fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference standings, as voted on by the league's 16 head coaches. Le Moyne returns 11 letter winners, including four starters from last year's 20-11 squad.
The Dolphins are led by preseason Division II All-American Laurence Ekperigin, who was named the conference's Player of the Year and an all-conference first team member for the second straight year in 2008-2009. He was third in the NE-10 in scoring at 18.3 points per game and led the league in rebounding (11.4 rpg), field-goal percentage (.684) and blocked shots (81) last season.
Sophomore guard Chris Johnson was named to the 2008-2009 NE-10 All-Rookie Team after averaging 13.8 points per game. He set a Le Moyne freshman record, hitting 99 3-pointers in his rookie season. Grad student Damani Corbin also provided an offensive spark for the Dolphins last year, registering 8.7 points and 4.5 assists per game.
Head coach Steve Evans is in his 10th season with the Dolphins. He owns an overall record of 122-133 (.478). Prior to taking the reigns at Le Moyne, Evans, a native of nearby Rome, N.Y., was an assistant coach at Northwestern and Siena.
THE SERIES
Syracuse and Le Moyne have played six times during the regular season with the Orange winning all six games at home. The last meeting between the two squads resulted in an 85-51 victory for the Orange in the first game of the 2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
UP NEXT …
The Orange tips off the regular season on Monday, Nov. 9 against Albany in the opening game of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. It could be a historic night at the Carrier Dome as Orange head coach Jim Boeheim will attempt to become the eighth Division I coach in NCAA history to win 800 games. He currently has 799 career victories.
