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The Daily OrangeMBB | Rough Rhode: Syracuse's second-half meltdown helps Rhode Island pull off dramatic upset
By Zach Schonbrun
Posted: 12/8/07, 11:19 PM EST Section: Sports
The Rhode Island basketball players practically danced their way off the court. Drenched with enough sweat to turn their pale blue jerseys to navy, the Rams momentarily forgot their tired legs and raced out of a hostile Carrier Dome to enjoy the 91-89 win they had just pulled off.
And despite a closed door and cinder block walls, you could still hear them cheering wildly in the locker room.
Jonny Flynn said the game reminded him of the Massachusetts shootout less than two weeks ago. Call it UMass-Lite.
Either way, an Atlantic 10 team came into the Carrier Dome and sprinted out in celebration, leaving a shocked and bewildered Syracuse team struggling for answers.
Despite a brilliant first-half run and a second half lead that reached 11 at its peak, SU stumbled to its third loss of the season in a nail-biter that ended on a missed Paul Harris 3-pointer as time expired Saturday night. A season-high crowd of 21,197 left the Dome angry about a heavy dosage of foul calls and a second-half meltdown that even SU head coach Jim Boeheim had trouble explaining.
"Right now we're just not good enough defensively and rebounding defensively to win these kind of games," Boeheim said. "We did a good job in our man-to-man for the most part. We got beat on the boards, on missed free-throws and just missed shots, and that's very disappointing to get outrebounded by 11 rebounds here. That was really the key."
Syracuse finished with six players scoring in double figures (all five starters, plus freshman Rick Jackson) and shot 53.7 percent from the field. SU point guard Jonny Flynn finished with his second career double-double with 21 points and 10 assists.
Down by double-digits early in the second half, Rhode Island (10-1) methodically plodded its comeback with key defensive stops and lots of trips to the free-throw line, eventually tying the game, 72-72, with a Lamonte Ulmer putback at 7:53. From there, the game went back and forth and neither team could gather enough momentum to put the other away.
And despite a closed door and cinder block walls, you could still hear them cheering wildly in the locker room.
Jonny Flynn said the game reminded him of the Massachusetts shootout less than two weeks ago. Call it UMass-Lite.
Either way, an Atlantic 10 team came into the Carrier Dome and sprinted out in celebration, leaving a shocked and bewildered Syracuse team struggling for answers.
Despite a brilliant first-half run and a second half lead that reached 11 at its peak, SU stumbled to its third loss of the season in a nail-biter that ended on a missed Paul Harris 3-pointer as time expired Saturday night. A season-high crowd of 21,197 left the Dome angry about a heavy dosage of foul calls and a second-half meltdown that even SU head coach Jim Boeheim had trouble explaining.
"Right now we're just not good enough defensively and rebounding defensively to win these kind of games," Boeheim said. "We did a good job in our man-to-man for the most part. We got beat on the boards, on missed free-throws and just missed shots, and that's very disappointing to get outrebounded by 11 rebounds here. That was really the key."
Syracuse finished with six players scoring in double figures (all five starters, plus freshman Rick Jackson) and shot 53.7 percent from the field. SU point guard Jonny Flynn finished with his second career double-double with 21 points and 10 assists.
Down by double-digits early in the second half, Rhode Island (10-1) methodically plodded its comeback with key defensive stops and lots of trips to the free-throw line, eventually tying the game, 72-72, with a Lamonte Ulmer putback at 7:53. From there, the game went back and forth and neither team could gather enough momentum to put the other away.
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Marc LeVine
posted 12/10/07 @ 12:09 PM EST
This game told us a few things.
1. We have a young and talented team that is still developing and will be a real force - not this year - but over the next few. (Continued…)
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