Guerrier, Girard III Key To Orange Win

Wednesday, December 16

Syracuse, N.Y.

3 PM

Syracuse University

5-1,1-0ACC

Northeastern

1-2,0-0CAA

Northeastern

Syracuse

12/16/2020 5:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Jim Boeheim Press Conference Joe Girard Press Conference Quincy Guerrier Press Conference Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A double-double from Quincy Guerrier (18 points, 16 rebounds) and 21 points from Joseph Girard III propelled Syracuse (5-1, 1-0) to victory in the Carrier Dome on Wednesday afternoon against Northeastern (1-2), 62-56.

Guerrier grabbed a career-best 16 boards, the most by a Syracuse player since Bourama Sidibe tallied that many the mark at Pittsburgh on Jan. 27, 2018. His third double-double of the season pushed his career total to six.

Girard III's 21 points tied his season high (12/5 vs. Rider) and his six steals set a career standard. The Glens Falls native knocked down all nine of his attempts from the free throw line.

FROM COACH BOEHEIM
"We went with a small lineup today and it was good" said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. "Kadary (Richmond) did a good job. Buddy (Boeheim) and Joe (Girard III) did a good job on defense. Joe, Quincy (Guerrier) and Kadary got going and got some steals and that was the game."

HUSKIES HAVE SOME BARK
Northeastern came out firing to open the game, using eight unanswered points to build an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes. A 3-pointer from Girard III ended the SU drought and made the Husky lead 8-5 with 15:24 to play in the half.

Down 13-11 with 12:14 on the clock, Guerrier stepped up to close the gap. He hauled in an offensive rebound and put home a layup to tie the game and then sank a free throw to give the Orange a one-point edge. A two-minute scoreless stretch followed before Girard III and Coleman Stucke traded triples to keep the 'Cuse lead at one. Jahmyl Telfort hit from beyond the arc and Marek Dolezaj cashed in a lay-up to bring the teams even at 19 with 7:46 to play in the half.

Back-to-back makes from downtown by Telfort put the Huskies up six with 6:11 to play, leading to a Syracuse timeout. The 3-pointers were part of a 12-2 Northeastern scoring run that was ended with a layup from Guerrier with 5:56 on the clock. On the ensuing possession, the Montreal native found Dolezaj in the lane to cut the deficit to two. Telfort and Dolezaj then traded lay-ups to make the Husky lead 27-25 with four minutes to go in the first half.

ORANGE BATTLE BACK
Trailing by one with under a minute to go in the half, Alan Griffin found Dolezaj wide open in the paint to put the 'Cuse ahead by one. Syracuse took a 32-31 advantage into the break.

Girard III led all scorers with 12 points in the opening frame.

Finding the range 👌👌@JG3_____

Watch on ACCN: https://t.co/xS8xNB7p9E pic.twitter.com/xaM7MPKElX
— Syracuse Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 16, 2020

BACK AND FORTH AFTER THE BREAK
The teams traded makes and pairs of free throws to open the second stanza, keeping the Orange edge at one, but the Huskies made another run. After two free-throw makes from Vito Cubrilo, Telfort and Walters put home lay-ups on consecutive possessions to give the Huskies a 41-36 lead with 13:34 to play. The run forced Syracuse to call time.

A Girard III make ended the 6-0 Husky scoring run and a pair of free throws from Woody Newton cut the Husky lead to 41-40 with 11:29 to go.

A Cubrilo 3-pointer nudged the Northeastern lead to four, but Syracuse scrapped back. Kadary Richmond made a free throw and then rejected a Cubrilo lay-up at the other end to make the margin three. Over a minute elapsed before Guerrier provided the game's next points with a pair from the charity stripe. A Buddy Boeheim steal gave the ball back to the Orange, and Guerrier finished the possession with an emphatic slam to reclaim the lead, 45-44, with 8:40 remaining in the second half.

HUSKIES HALTED FOR GOOD
Out of a media timeout with 7:18 on the clock, Richmond sank two free throws and Dolezaj put home a floater. The two scores were followed by Northeastern makes to keep the margin at one. Guerrier snagged his 15^th rebound of the game on a Boeheim miss and finished at the cup to put the 'Cuse up three. Syracuse stretched its lead with a pair of free throws from Girard III, but the Huskies answered back with a 3-pointer from Jason Strong to make the Syracuse advatnage 53-51 with 4:01 to play.

With just over two minutes to play, Dolezaj put back a Boeheim miss to go up four and Girard III snagged a steal and scored through a foul, converting at the line to complete the three-point play and put the Orange up 60-53 with 1:52 left in thee game.

A pair of Richmond makes from the line sealed the Orange victory, 62-56.

HUGE steal and 3-point play by @JG3_____! pic.twitter.com/NhfgeGCYf2
— Syracuse Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 16, 2020

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Marek Dolezaj played all 40 minutes and surpassed 3,000 minutes played at Syracuse.
Quincy Guerrier set a career high with 16 rebounds. His previous high (13) came in this season's wins against Bryant and Niagara.
Joseph Girard III recorded a career-best six steals. His previous high (four) came against Duke last season.
Syracuse made a season-best 22 free throws, the most since sinking 28 from the charity stripe on February 22 versus Georgia Tech at the Carrier Dome last season.

UP NEXT

The Orange plays the second of three-straight home contests when they host Buffalo on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. The game will be available on the ACC Network.

Gallery: (12-16-2020) Syracuse vs. Northeastern

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