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Syracuse was supposed to dominate Le Moyne from start to finish. After all, the Dolphins are the program that joined Division I last year and are a small school located under three miles from SU’s campus.

Instead, there was no noticeable difference between the programs throughout the contest. Le Moyne led most of the game and never trailed by more than a few possessions. The Dolphins continuously answered Syracuse’s runs down the stretch, cutting its lead to one with 22 seconds remaining.

“We would love to play better, but you’re not always going to play good, that’s just the reality,” SU head coach Adrian Autry said postgame. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. Le Moyne did a great job, they came in here and they battled.”

In the end, Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) squeaked out an 86-82 season-opening win over Le Moyne (0-1, 0-0 Northeast Conference). The Orange were led by Delaware transfer Jyare Davis’ 22 points and 12 rebounds while Chris Bell added 20 points and a game-sealing steal. Despite besting SU by 6% from the field and nearly 18% on 3-pointers, the Dolphins were held back by 16 turnovers, especially down the stretch.

Well before Bell halted Le Moyne’s chances at tying or taking the lead in the final seconds by intercepting a dribble handoff before nailing two free throws, Syracuse looked discombobulated.

Between failing to convert on inside looks — against a Le Moyne squad that doesn’t boast a player over 6-foot-9 — and lackadaisical defense, the Dolphins jumped out to an early lead. Helped by the Orange shooting 10-of-16 from the free-throw line and 2-of-9 on 3-pointers, Le Moyne only trailed for 2 minutes and seven seconds in the first half en route to its 41-36 halftime lead.

“I felt like we came in and we thought we were just going to run over them, per se,” Bell said. “That’s not what happened and I felt like we responded in the second half. When you give people life, those types of things happen.”

Eddie Lampkin Jr., who only played six first-half minutes because of two fouls, instantly got SU going inside in the second half as part of his 10-point performance. While J.J. Starling also got an inside look to drop cutting Syracuse’s deficit to three, a 5-0 Dolphins run gained them an eight-point lead two minutes into the half.

From there, Bell scored eight of the Orange’s next 10 points, including one of the team’s four makes from behind the arc, to tie the game 50-50 at the 14:19 mark. After splashing in his triple from the left corner, Bell raised his arms in the air, showcasing a sigh of relief that SU was back in the game.

On the ensuing possession, Le Moyne’s Nate Fouts — who was one of its five players to score in double figures — answered with a triple of his own, gesturing the crowd to be silent. As Syracuse continuously fought back to tie or take the lead, the Dolphins kept answering.

“They were hitting a lot of tough shots,” Starling said of Le Moyne. “Those tough shots when you’re playing defense and you feel like you’re playing well, those tough shots are sometimes demoralizing. They’re getting hype off that, and we’re trying to get our rhythm back.”

Davis scored six points across a two-and-a-half-minute stretch helping SU turn a 57-52 deficit into a 62-59 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, a Bell right-side corner 3 extended Syracuse’s lead to 65-60, its then-largest lead of the game.

Still, Le Moyne remained unfazed. Courtesy of getting to the free throw line — where they shot 17-of-23 compared to the Orange’s 20-of-31 — and one of Freds Pauls Bagatskis’ game-high three 3-point snipes, the Dolphins quickly tied the game 65-65.

With 6:43 remaining, a Zek Tekin layup re-gained the Dolphins a 68-67 lead. Following a timeout, Autry displayed a lineup featuring Lampkin and Davis on the floor together. The transfer big men duo capitalized on a litany of Le Moyne turnovers, combining for nine of SU’s next 11 points giving it a 78-71 lead at the under-4 timeout.

“I think we all were able to stay poised and just continue to fight and get a win,” Davis said.

Yet, like they had all game, the Dolphins fought right back. While the Orange had a chance to extend their lead to double digits following one of Le Moyne’s five turnovers in the final five minutes of the game, Davis misfired a pass to Lampkin which was stolen leading to a layup on the other end.

Despite having three chances to extend its lead back to a three-possession game with just over a minute remaining, Syracuse couldn’t convert near the cup. The Dolphins, as a result, got out in transition, and Trent Mosquera drew nylon from behind the arc to cut SU’s lead down to 81-79 with just over a minute remaining.

Starling, who finished with 13 points, responded by drilling a spectacular layup through contact to regain the Orange an 83-79 lead with 34 seconds remaining. Le Moyne had no timeouts, so it quickly maneuvered up the court and dialed a catch-and-shoot 3 Bagatskis drilled from the top of the key.

The Dolphins then instantly fouled Jaquan Carlos, who proceeded to go 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. Le Moyne had fought all game long. Now trailing by two with 20 seconds remaining, the ball was in its hands with a chance for a historic upset. It was the Dolphins’ game to win but they instead lost it trying to get the ball to Bagatskis on a dribble handoff Bell quickly cut off.

Syracuse won its first game of the season, but not in the fashion it’s capable of. Postgame, Donnie Freeman — who notched a double-double in his college debut — echoed Autry, who told the team it was a wake-up call for them.

“Obviously we have a lot of work to do, that’s no secret,” Autry said.

Published on November 4, 2024 at 9:47 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon