Syracuse struggles down the stretch but gets past Niagara
SU struggles but gets past Niagara
The Orange men’s basketball got the win to close non-conference play.
Some wins feel better than others.
Coming off wins against Georgetown and Oregon, Syracuse left a lot to be desired in an 83-71 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles on Thursday at the JMA Wireless Dome.
It wasn’t always easy for the Orange (9-3). Syracuse hovered between 12 and 16 points for much of the second half, but the team struggled down the stretch, allowing the Purple Eagles to keep hanging around. Head coach Adrian Autry disapproved of the Orange play.
“The last four or five minutes were unacceptable,” Autry said. “Our immaturity showed. We let our foot off the gas. You just can’t do that. I’m happy we won. I’m not happy with how we finished this game.”
SU’s play against Niagara’s pressure in the final minutes was far from reassuring and it took a breakaway dunk from sophomore forward Maliq Brown with 59 seconds left to finally put a bow on things, putting the Orange ahead 80-69.
Syracuse’s starting unit was not effective in the first half and the bench unit of Brown, sophomore guard Quadir Copeland, junior forward Benny Williams and sophomore guzrd Kyle Cuffe Jr. provided much-needed positivity, combining for 24 points in the first half.
“Our bench was great again today,” Autry said. “Kyle, Benny, Quadir, and Maliq; those guys came in and gave us great energy again. That’s two or three games in a row.”
Syracuse’s bench outscored Niagara’s 40-26, with Brown and Copeland serving as spark-plugs for the third straight game. Brown had 15 points, made all six of his shots, drained his first career three and added 10 rebounds for a double-double in 24 minutes.
Copeland, mixing in some learning moments with a lot of positivity, had 12 points and dished out eight assists.
After a slow start from Syracuse, the bench upped the energy in the first half.
“It was time to turn the game up,” Copeland said. “Just get out and run and get right to it. I feel like that’s the good thing about coming in with that second unit.”
Sophomore guard Judah Mintz did manage another stellar game, leading the team with 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting while playing just 26 minutes.
Sophomore guard Justin Taylor was the only other Orange starter to finish in double-figures, with all 11 of his points coming in the second half.
Syracuse finished the game shooting 33-for-68 (49 percent) from the floor and 8-of-22 from 3-point range.
Niagara’s Luke Bumbalough was a problem for the Orange in the early going. He hit three 3-pointers and had already racked up 11 points by the 11:58 mark of the first half to give the Purple Eagles a 13-12 lead.
Bumbalough racked up a game-high 26 points on an 8-of-16 shooting night that included six made threes.
Autry inserted all four of his main bench players—Williams, Copeland, Brown, and Cuffe—around seven minutes into the game, with the starting unit struggling to bring very much energy.
The bench did its job of providing a change of pace. Cuffe and a particularly aggressive Copeland keyed an 11-0 run that put the Orange up 28-17 with 7:01 left in the first half.
Brown’s three made it 35-23 at the 3:48 mark before Autry re-inserted his starting lineup plus junior center Mounir Hima for the rest of the half.
The difference was startling. The offense stagnated and didn’t score until Mintz made three foul shots just before the halftime buzzer to give Syracuse a 38-28 lead at the break.
The Orange starting unit continued to struggle to begin the second half, with the Purple Eagles cutting the lead to 40-33. The starters finally managed to find some momentum through the previously quiet duo of sophomore forward Chris Bell and Taylor, who helped key a 12-3 run that made it 52-36 with 14:29 left.
After the non-conference slate, Syracuse has no tremendous wins, but no bad losses either. The Orange will have to earn some more impressive wins against conference competition.
Syracuse will dive back into ACC play on Dec. 30, when it hosts Pittsburgh at Noon at the JMA Wireless Dome.
is the Sports Lead Producer for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.