Joseph Powers ‘Cuse Past Ravens, 76-68

Sunday, November 2

Syracuse, N.Y.

1:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Carleton University

Carleton (Ca.)

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

11/2/2014 3:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Orange overcome a 15-point deficit to defeat Carleton in its first exhibition game of 2014

Syracuse 76, Carleton (Ca.) 68 (.pdf)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In its first test of the 2014-15 season, Syracuse defeated Carleton University (Ca.), 76-68, in an exhibition game at the Carrier Dome. Carleton has won 10 of the last 12 national championships in Canada as well as 14 straight league titles.

Syracuse Stat Pack

Kaleb Joseph led a quartet of double-digit scorers in his debut for the Orange with a near-perfect day from the floor. Finishing seven-of-nine from the floor and five-of-six from the charity stripe, the freshman netted a team-best 19 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and a steal.

"It was a great experience," Joseph said following the game. "I could never imagine this happening to me. It was great to be out there with my teammates and come back from down 15. It really shows us a lot about our character."

"I thought we were struggling big time in the first half and we couldn't score and he made some plays." Coach Boeheim said about Joseph, "I think he had ten or eleven maybe at halftime. I thought he was pretty much our offense ... I think overall you'd have to be happy with what he did today."

Syracuse's other highly touted freshman, Chris McCullough did it all for the Orange, draining 14 points and had a team-leading six rebounds in 34 minutes of action. His time on the court was the third most on the team with Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije each playing 35 minutes.

Together the two freshmen combined for 43% of Syracuse's offense with 33 points and shot 63% from the floor.

Also finishing with a near-perfect line was Ron Patterson who finished second to Joseph with 15 of Syracuse's 21 points off the bench. The reserve guard was five-of-six from the floor with four-of-five coming from beyond the arc.

Rakeem Christmas was missed in the first half as the center saw just seven minutes on the floor due to foul trouble. However, Christmas bounced back, bolstering the 'Cuse defense and scoring all 13 of his points in the second frame.

Syracuse's aggressive play led to the Orange taking 31 shots from the free throw line and successfully netting points on 20 of its attempts. Cooney, Joseph, Gbinije and Patterson combined for 16 of the 20 points as they were 16-of-20 from the line with Cooney leading the group with seven free throws on eight tries.

Battling Back In The First

Syracuse won the tip, leading to Joseph finding McCullough at the top of the key for a two-point jumper. Carleton's Victor Rasso retaliated on the ensuing possession with his first-of-three buckets from beyond the arc in a 13-2 run by the Ravens to take a 13-4 lead.

Two free-throws and a three by Michael Gbinije as well as layups from Joseph and McCullough lifted the Orange, cutting the Carleton lead to four with a 17-13 score. The Ravens responded quickly with a four-point burst but threes from McCullough and Patterson powered an 8-2 run to pull within two of Carleton.

With the Orange threatening, Thomas Scrubb went on a tear scoring nine in the midst of a 14-1 surge to extend the lead to 37-22.

Down 15 and with momentum in favor of the Ravens, Joseph took over for the Orange with just under two minutes left in the half. The point guard scored six-of-eight Orange points, cutting the lead to nine, trailing Carleton 39-30 at the break.

'Cuse Completes The Comeback

The Orange came out swinging in the second half with eight unanswered points capped off by a three by Patterson. With its lead diminished to one, Carleton's Raso and Gavin Resch retaliated with back-to-back threes to bring the score to 45-38 in favor of the Ravens.

Two threes by Patterson and a McCullough jumper in between pulled the Orange back within two. Raso hit another three on the ensuing possession to halt the Syracuse surge. Christmas gave his rebuttal as he was the catalyst on a 5-2 run for the Orange to pull within two.

With Syracuse surging and the crowd coming alive, Tyler Roberson tied the game at 52 with a jumper. On the ensuing possession, Patterson picked the pocket of Scrubb for a breakaway dunk to claim the Orange's first lead since the game-opening score. Christmas completed a 10-0 run by the Orange, tacking on four more points to bring the score to 58-52, Orange.

Down and with Syracuse on the run, Scrubb took matters into his own hands for Carleton, scoring four points on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 58. Unwilling to give up a lead it battled to get, the Orange busted out a 10-4 run to take a 68-62 lead.

With five minutes to go, the Orange defense held the Ravens to just six points down the stretch to take the exhibition matchup, 76-68.

Bring On Adrian

Syracuse is back in the Carrier Dome Monday, November 10 at 7:00 p.m. to take on Adrian in its final exhibition test before it kicks off the 2014-15 regular season against Kennesaw State on November 14.