Syracuse beats Penn 78-60
Roberts led the Orange with 16 points

Box Score

The #20/20 Syracuse Orange (2-0) won its second game at the BCA Invitational, beating Penn (0-2), 78-60, at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, November 11. Syracuse shot 54 percent from the field and made eight three-pointers in the game.

Senior forward Terrence Roberts and sophomore guard Eric Devendorf led the Orange with 16 points apiece. Roberts also had game-highs with nine rebounds and three blocks. Devendorf made three three-pointers and had four assists and three steals. Junior guard Josh Wright had a game-high six assists after registering a career-best nine in the season opener the night before. Senior forward Demetris Nichols turned in his second double-digit performance with 12 points to go along with six rebounds. Senior forward Matt Gorman chipped in a career-high 12 points off the bench for Syracuse.

The teams traded baskets in the early going of the game. Devendorf put the Orange on top with a three-pointer off a pass from Wright, but guard Ibrahim Jaaber answered for Penn with a three of his own. With the game tied at five, Wright threw an alley-oop pass to senior center Darryl Watkins for a dunk. Syracuse picked up three steals in the first four minutes and had assists on each of its first three baskets.

Both teams fell into a bit of a dry spell with no field goals scored over a three minute span, until Watkins found Nichols underneath for a layup. Jaaber came back down on the ensuing Penn possession and made a layup off a pass from forward Tommy McMahon to pull Pen within a point, 10-9. Roberts pulled down a rebound off a missed three by sophomore forward Andy Rautins and then threw down a thunderous two-handed dunk and the Orange lead was back to three points.

Penn used solid outside shooting to take its first lead of the night. Jaaber tied the game with a three-pointer from the left side, giving him 10 of Penn’s first 12 points, to tie the game and forward Andreas Schreiber hit another two minutes later from the right side to put the Quakers on top, 15-12. The lead last only a couple of minutes, as Nichols hit a jumper from just outside the key and Roberts collected another offensive rebound and layup to bring the Orange within one. Roberts then came up with a steal, threw an outlet pass to Devendorf who threw a long pass to Roberts for a fastbreak dunk to give the Orange a one point edge, 18-17.

After a three-pointer by Nichols, Gorman corralled an offensive rebound, made a layup as he was fouled and hit the foul shot to complete the three-point play to give the Orange a seven point advantage. McMahon canned a three at 4:41, but Nichols came right back down the floor and hit his third triple of the half and the Orange maintained a seven point edge with four minutes remaining in the half, 28-21.

The threes kept coming for the Orange as Gorman got into the act with a long ball from the right side to spark a 9-2 Syracuse run to close out the first half. The Orange headed into the locker room with its largest lead of the half, 37-24. Syracuse scored from all over the court in the first half, making five three-pointers and scoring 16 points in the paint.

The Quakers cut the Orange lead to single-digits with a 4-0 run as the Orange turned the ball over twice in the first minute of the second half. Devendorf led the Orange with six points in the first three minutes. Devendorf was fouled on a tough, leaning layup inside, made the free throw and then nailed his first three-pointer of the game. Jaaber scored his first points of the second half with a one-handed, midair layup off a pass from guard Brian Grandieri. Gorman connected on his second three-point play of the night when he scored off an offensive rebound and made his free throw to put the Orange up by 11 after five minutes, 46-35.

Penn hung tough, but it seemed that every shot they made was answered by Syracuse and they never got any closer than seven points. The Quakers went over six minutes without a field goal and the Orange used a 12 point run over that span to stretch its lead to 62-43 with under seven minutes left in the game. Devendorf picked up his fourth foul at 6:16 and headed to the bench with 15 points, but that didn’t stop the Orange offense. Roberts took a pass inside from freshman forward Paul Harris and dunked over two Penn defenders as he was fouled. He made the free throw and Syracuse went up by 20 points for the first time in the game, 67-47.

The BCA Invitational finishes Sunday with two more games. St. Francis and Penn tip off at 3:30 p.m. followed by the two undefeated teams, Syracuse and UTEP, at 6:00 p.m.

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