Syracuse Closes Exhibition Play With Victory
One week after trailing for much of its exhibition game, Syracuse basketball led throughout as the Orange cruised to a 72-58 win over Southern New Hampshire in its final tune up before regular season play begins.
In a season where easy wins may be few and far between, the Orange were able to snag an easy one Tuesday night. The offense flowed easily and early in the first half, with all five starters getting on the board before the first media timeout, and SU looking the way an ACC squad is supposed to against a Divison II opponent. Syracuse held Southern New Hampshire to 28% shooting in the first half and 31% overall.
The three guard lineups, whether it be Mintz-Copeland-Taylor or the Mintz-Torrence-Copeland trio employed by Boeheim produced some beautiful ball movement. This allowed the Orange to play with pace and get out in transition.
It was a bit troubling to see Jesse Edwards pick up three first half-fouls. With his tendency to float, it was good to see him come out aggressive on the glass and impose his will defensively. Plus, while the level of size inside for SNHU was notsuper intimidating, Mounir Hima came off the bench to replace Jesse after his second foul and gave some productive minutes. Hima finished with two points, five rebounds and two blocks in 12 minutes.
There was some angst early in the second half, as SU took a lot longer than anybody would have liked to seat the fans in the second half (almost seven minutes of game time before a Symir Torrence three). In fact SNHU got within 10 points late in the second half but never seriously challenged.
Joe Girard lead the team with 15 points, with Jesse right behind him with 13. With the exhibitions out the way, the next time you will be able to see Syracuse basketball will be live bullets, next Monday at 7:00pm Eastern against Lehigh.
SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE
SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT
JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF
