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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- A small lineup did big things for Syracuse.
Tied early in the second half against Columbia, which plays a
deliberate style, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim decided to keep his
big men on the bench and the Orangemen (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP) escaped with a 61-47 victory
Thursday night.
|  | | Damone Brown, right, added 12 points and seven rebounds for Syracuse on Thursday. |
"When it was 31-31 we went with a smaller team and pressure,"
Boeheim said. "I thought that was the difference. We were able to
get them to take some quicker shots. When you play halfcourt with
them, they're going to take 35 seconds and you've got to really
play well. And we weren't playing well.
"We had to go out and pressure, try to force some turnovers. We
finally got a couple, we got ourselves running a little bit and
were able to get up the court."
Preston Shumpert led Syracuse with 20 points, including seven
straight in a second-half spurt that broke open the game.
"We had to try something new," said Syracuse forward Damone
Brown, who had 12 points and seven rebounds. "Coach called time
out and we went more with a pressing game to try to speed them up
and get them out of their rhythm. And that paid off a little bit."
Syracuse (10-1) forced 12 turnovers in the second half, and that
thwarted the Lions (3-7).
"That press hurt us a little bit in the second half," Columbia
coach Armond Hill said. "They put it on us and, boom, the next
thing you know they're getting layup after layup. But we knew they
run a very good pressure defense, and it took us out of what we
were trying to do. It changed the game."
Still, Syracuse, which fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in
its previous game, an 83-70 loss to No. 6 Tennessee, had its share
of trouble.
Consecutive baskets by Craig Austin and a dunk by Joe Case on a
backdoor pass had the game tied with 16:34 to play. But a fastbreak
layup by Shumpert off a steal by Brown got the Orangemen going.
Shumpert then hit a long jumper and an easy scoop in the lane as
the Lions went cold. After another dunk by Case finally broke the
drought, the Orangemen reeled off 12 more points to complete a 23-2
run.
Case led the Lions with 16 points and Austin had 12.
Syracuse was unable to shake the Lions in the first half. Every
time the Orangemen built a lead, Columbia came right back.
When Brown hit a short hook in the lane to give Syracuse a 23-15
lead with 6:45 to go, Case retaliated with a 3-pointer 15 seconds
later.
The Lions then failed to capitalize on a great opportunity.
DeShaun Williams missed twice and James Thues failed on a 3-point
attempt on consecutive possessions for Syracuse, but Columbia
turned the ball over after each miss.
Consecutive layups by Kueth Duany and Allen Griffin and a
pull-up jumper by Brown staked Syracuse to a 31-22 lead in the
final minute of the first half, but Marco McCottry hit a 3 at the
buzzer to pull Columbia within 31-25.
"They spread us out and our big guys were taken away from the
basket," said Duany, who had 11 points and seven rebounds. "Coach
wanted us to pressure them all over the court. We just tried to get
in the lanes."
Syracuse shot 42.1 percent for the game, while the Lions were at
36 percent.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Columbia Clubhouse
Syracuse Clubhouse
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