Syracuse, N.Y. - Kris Joseph and James Southerland each had 19 points in leading Syracuse, the nation's fifth-ranked team, to a 98-74 victory over UAlbany on Tuesday, Nov. 15 in the second round of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off before 17,189 fans at the Carrier Dome.
UAlbany (1-2) played even with the Orange over the opening eight minutes. The Great Danes led by four in the early going, before Southerland hit a jump hook for a 10-9 advantage. Logan Aronhalt, who had 20 points, canned a three-point field goal from the left corner to put his team on top. Gerardo Suero later made two free throws that had the game tied at 16 apiece.
Syracuse (3-0) then ripped off nine unanswered points to go in front for good. Fab Melo, a 7-foot sophomore, connected on back-to-back baskets, including the second with an offensive rebound. Southerland, who made 8-of-12 from the field, delivered a 3-pointer off an inbounds play and C.J. Fair sank two free throws.
The Great Danes were still within single digits after Aronhalt's long-range shot sliced the deficit to 38-29. But the Orange, ranked in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls, responded with 11 of the game's next 14 points. Joseph nailed a three-pointer and converted in transition to start that run.
The Orange took a 51-34 lead to the break and then expanded their margin with an 11-3 outburst to begin the field period. Baye Keita added 14 points and five rebounds off the bench, as his team shot 52.6 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, UAlbany's Suero made things interesting the rest of way. The 6-foot-4 junior finished with 31 points, on 9-of-16 from the field and 11-of-12 from the line.
"Our effort was really good," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team's two losses this season are to national top-10 programs. "This is the best overall Syracuse team in years. The have talent, depth and length. They buried us on the glass. But we did some good things and Ralph Watts did a nice job off the bench."
Mike Black was the third UAlbany player in double figures with 11, as his team made 26 of 33 free throws. Suero, who scored the most points by a Great Dane since Jan. 13, 2007, helped get his team within 69-53 midway through the final period by making a pair of foul shots.
"We played with them in stretches," said Aronhalt, who added five rebounds and made four 3-pointers. "We competed with confidence and this is only going to help us going forward."
Paw Prints: UAlbany's Gerardo Suero scored the most points by a Syracuse opponent at the Carrier Dome since Cornell's Ryan Wittman had 33 on Dec. 3, 2008 ... the Great Danes faced the second-highest ranked opponent in program history ... UAlbany will play in the NIT Season Tip-Off's third and fourth rounds at a site to be determined on Monday, Nov. 21 and Tuesday, Nov. 22.
#5 Syracuse 98, UAlbany 74 (11/15/11 at Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
Albany vs Syracuse
11/15/11 7:00 PM at Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
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VISITORS: Albany (1-2)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Luke Devlin......... f 0-1 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 2 1 1 0 0 0 18
20 Gerardo Suero....... f 9-16 2-6 11-12 3 3 6 2 31 4 6 0 2 36
44 John Puk............ c 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 20
02 Logan Aronhalt...... g 6-18 4-11 4-4 2 3 5 0 20 0 2 0 2 38
10 Mike Black.......... g 3-8 1-4 4-5 0 1 1 2 11 2 5 0 1 32
00 Jacob Iati.......... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
12 Peter Hooley........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
14 Sam Rowley.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 10
21 Blake Metcalf....... 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 4 3 0 0 0 0 17
22 Ralph Watts......... 1-3 1-2 5-6 0 1 1 2 8 2 0 0 0 16
30 Jayson Guerrier..... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 6
TEAM................ 2 4 6
Totals.............. 20-51 8-26 26-33 10 19 29 20 74 9 16 1 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-26 38.5% 2nd Half: 10-25 40.0% Game: 39.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-15 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 30.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-12 75.0% 2nd Half: 17-21 81.0% Game: 78.8% 3
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HOME TEAM: Syracuse (3-0)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
25 CHRISTMAS, Rakeem... f 3-4 0-0 3-4 2 2 4 3 9 0 2 1 0 18
32 JOSEPH, Kris........ f 8-14 2-4 1-3 2 2 4 2 19 0 2 0 1 25
51 MELO, Fab........... c 4-5 0-0 0-0 4 3 7 4 8 0 1 0 0 17
11 JARDINE, Scoop...... g 2-5 1-3 2-5 0 1 1 1 7 5 0 0 0 16
20 TRICHE, Brandon..... g 2-6 0-2 2-2 0 3 3 2 6 5 2 0 0 19
01 CARTER-WILLIAMS, M.. 2-7 0-2 0-0 1 3 4 2 4 4 1 2 0 20
03 WAITERS, Dion....... 4-9 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 8 5 0 1 2 20
05 FAIR, C.J........... 1-4 0-0 2-3 4 5 9 2 4 2 3 0 1 23
12 KEITA, Baye......... 6-6 0-0 2-2 5 0 5 2 14 0 0 2 0 14
21 JONES, Mookie....... 0-4 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5
43 SOUTHERLAND, James.. 8-12 3-4 0-0 2 3 5 2 19 0 1 0 2 23
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 40-76 6-20 12-19 22 25 47 23 98 22 12 6 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 20-40 50.0% 2nd Half: 20-36 55.6% Game: 52.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 30.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-12 58.3% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 63.2% 2
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Officials: Tim Higgins, Chris Beaver, Clarence Armstrong
Technical fouls: Albany-None. Syracuse-None.
Attendance: 17189
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Albany........................ 34 40 - 74
Syracuse...................... 51 47 - 98
Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Game #4
Points in the paint-ALBANY 20,SYR 60. Points off turnovers-ALBANY 16,SYR 24.
2nd chance points-ALBANY 12,SYR 24. Fast break points-ALBANY 6,SYR 24.
Bench points-ALBANY 11,SYR 49. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-ALBANY 2nd-01:46, SYR 2nd-00:11.
Largest lead-ALBANY by 4 1st-18:41, SYR by 29 2nd-05:26.
