|
 |  |
|
AD PARTNERS
|  |
CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- One of the nation's best 3-point shooting squads made 10 shots from beyond the arc, but it was not nearly enough to beat a team with revenge on its mind. Behind strong performances from seniors Etan Thomas and Jason Hart, fourth-seeded Syracuse beat No. 13 Samford, 79-65, in a Midwest Region first-round game at the Convocation Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. "I have a lot of respect for Samford and the way they played this game," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We knew we were in a battle when they starting hitting some tough shots at the beginning of the game." The Orangemen (25-5) will play Kentucky in the second round on Saturday in a rematch of the 1996 national championship game. Kentucky won that contest, 76-67. Samford, which entered the NCAA Tournament making 9.7 3-pointers per game and leading the nation in field-goal percentage (.503), was 11-of-24 from beyond the arc but made just one long-range shot in the final nine minutes. Mario Lopez's second 3-pointer with 9:20 remaining brought the Bulldogs (21-11) within 60-43, but Syracuse's best outside shooter, Preston Shumpert, connected on a 3-pointer to ignite a 15-5 run. "Preston has been shooting unbelievably well in practice so we knew that would carry through today," added Boeheim. "He knows how to put the ball in the basket which gave us a big lift when we needed it." Hart and Shumpert had 17 points and five rebounds apiece. Thomas collected 16 points, four rebounds, four blocks and four steals for the Orangemen, who were beaten in the first round last year by Oklahoma State. "The butterflies in my stomach just grew as we sat in the locker room," Hart said of the double-overtime contest between Kentucky and St. Bonaventure that proceeded this game. "In college basketball, anything goes so you have to prepare yourself for anything to happen." Ryan Blackwell added 11 points and four rebounds, giving Syracuse, which led the Big East Conference in scoring (76.2 ppg), four players in double figures. The Orangemen shot 55 percent (29-of-53) from the floor and 16-of-20 at the line. "We had a chance to make some runs at them and eveyr time that we did it seemed like they took the wind right out of our sails," said Lopez. "We could not stop them in back-to-back series." Although the Bulldogs made a few small runs at their more talented opponents, Syracuse basically took control by opening the game with a 15-6 burst. "We did not make the quality stops that were necessary," Samford coach Jimmy Tillette said. "They are a very good offensive team and we needed to make those stops. Defense was our problem today but we did not shoot the ball well either. This was not our best game." Taking advantage of the smaller Samford front line, Thomas scored the first seven points. The Orangemen held a nine-point lead following Shumpert's 3-pointer with 14:22 to play in the half. "We just knew that we had to come out with intensity so we could set the tone early which we did on the defensive end," Thomas said. Samford's first five baskets were 3-pointers. Reed Rawlings, who scored 28 points, was 5-of-9 from 3-point range, but all came in the opening 20 minutes. Rawlings wrapped two 3-pointers around one by Shumpert, pulling the Bulldogs within 31-26. But as he would on several occassions, Hart stymied Samford by draining a short jumper to steady Syracuse. Samford trailed 37-30 at halftime and watched Thomas again dominate early in the second half. A thunderous dunk by the 6-9 center with 16:26 to play gave Syracuse a 47-37 lead. The Bulldogs, however, did not go away as they used a 9-2 burst, crawling within three points on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Mark Salyers. But Allen Griffin made the first of two free throws and Hart had a steal and layup followed moments later by a pull-up jumper as the Orangemen once again denied the Bulldogs a chance to go on top. "Samford played extremely well early in the game and had good moevement on the offensive end which put some pressure on our defense," Boeheim said. "We just did a good job in adjusting our defense to make them take difficult shots in the second half." Derrick Jones scored 13 points and Salyers added 10 and seven rebounds for Samford, which connected on 41 percent (21-of-51) of its shots. Syracuse committed just 10 turnovers while taking advantage of 15 miscues by Samford. The teams battled to a 29-29 stalemate on the boards. The Bulldogs were making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. They also were beaten in the first round in 1999 by Big East member St. John's, 69-43. "We were more confident coming into this tournament," Rawlings said. "We knew we had the capability to play in this game but we just did not achieve it." "We were more comfortable coming into this game this year," added Will Daniel. "We felt that we had a chance to beat Syracuse. We started off slow on the defensive end and that is what hurt us tonight." .
|
