Syracuse narrowly edges out a win against Colgate

Sometimes, plain and simple observations or advice sums things up the best.

Like “score more points than the other team,” the classic tongue-in-cheek sentiment given by dads when prompted for game-winning strategies.

But that sums up Syracuse’s performance against Colgate Tuesday evening – they played basketball and scored more points than the other team.

The Orange barely snuck away with a narrow 74-72 victory against The Raiders in a tense match against the non-conference team, which usually serves as an early-season warm-up.

Heading into the night, Donnie Freeman and Jyáre Davis were the players to watch for Syracuse, but it was center Eddie Lampkin Jr. who made his presence known throughout the game.

Lampkin duked it out on the court for 34 minutes and led the Orange with 15 points and 12 rebounds – achieving his first double-double of the season less than four minutes into the second half.

The Colorado transfer was guarded by Jeff Woodward most of the night, frequently out-muscling the 270-pound forward at the rim.

“I’ve been waiting to play a big man,” Lampkin said on his matchup with Woodward. “I try to take advantage of the opportunities, knowing that I’m on the quicker side.”

Photo by Jack Henry

Syracuse center Eddie Lampkin Jr. breaks through Colgate defense Jeff Woodward en route to his team leading 15 point, 12 rebound double-double on Tuesday.

And it was this quickness and pace of the game that caused the biggest headache for both teams, as they each struggled defensively.

Colgate turned the ball over 6 times, while Syracuse allowed 12 points off turnovers and 22 points from fast breaks.

“At the end of the day, where we didn’t do a good job was transition defense,” Head Coach Adrian Autry said, reflecting on where The Orange needs to improve. “[Colgate] got 22 points from transition defense, that’s where we struggled.”

Despite leading by 13 points with 16 minutes to go in the second half, the Orange just couldn’t capitalize. Lackluster defense and missteps on key offensive possessions prevented Syracuse from widening the lead.

Following a timeout early in the second half, Colgate scored 15 points to Syracuse’s 4. Cutting the lead to 57-54 Syracuse.

“We are playing at a higher pace than people have seen in a long time here,” Autry said. “We’ve got to finish better down the line…we’re playing at a higher pace, so it’s going to be more possessions, and people shoot the ball more. These guys have all been scorers in the other places they’ve been at. Now we’re asking them to defend.”

With the win, the Orange move to 2-0 (0-0 ACC) and will take on Youngstown State on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Dome.