The Carrier Dome atmosphere was electric Saturday afternoon, and the Syracuse Orange came off short rest, but they were fueled by the loud and at times unsettled crowd of 25,000-plus faithful.
Neither team shot particularly well, and almost every time Syracuse mounted a small run, Georgia Tech battled back with a run of their own. Ultimately, the Orange made clutch shots down the stretch and played solid defense to edge out the Yellow Jackets, 60-57, and move to .500 in ACC play this season.
Leadership seemed to push Syracuse over the hump again, as graduate forward Michael Gbinije [15] led the way with 16 points and three steals. It appeared that Syracuse’s best player- few would argue against it being “The Silent G”- outmatched any individual counterpart on the Georgia Tech side.
More good news came from DaJuan Coleman [16] as he continued to attack the rim effectively, despite his tendency to get in foul trouble. However, head coach Jim Boeheim said, “he has got to rebound a little better." Coleman finished with 11 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes.
Other contributors included Trevor Cooney [17], who added seven points and four rebounds. Forward Tyler Roberson [18] had eight points to go along with his six rebounds.
Amongst the freshmen, Malachi Richardson [19] had 13 points and seven rebounds, but he missed some important free throws and committed four turnovers. Forward Tyler Lydon [20] had six points and six rebounds. Perhaps the most disregarded player in this game was guard Franklin Howard [21], who dished out six assists—several of which left the crowd in awe—and he collected three rebounds in the 14 minutes he played.
Jim Boeheim [22] discussed the topic of defense post-game, saying, “it’s not some freaking magic trick." Syracuse holding Georgia Tech’s field goal percentage to under 30 percent played a large part in this huge win. The Orange got out-rebounded again (40-35), but let us not forget the Yellow Jackets are one of the better rebounding teams in the ACC.
The Orange will play their next game on Tuesday night at home against Virginia Tech.
