It wasn't easy, but @Cuse_MBB held on for its second straight win against @ColgateMBB 74-72.@IanNicholasTV and @Hudson_Ridley had the call. pic.twitter.com/DHXRN8ddyj
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) November 13, 2024
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - With five seconds to play, Syracuse guard Lucas Taylor missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have extended SU’s lead to three. With no timeouts, Colgate pushed the ball into the front court with a chance to tie. However, Raiders guard Nicolas Louis-Jacques fell down as the clock hit triple zeros.
After a back-and-forth contest, Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference) squeaked by Colgate (1-2, 0-0 in Patriot League) 74-72.
The Orange were expected to beat the Raiders comfortably. One reason Syracuse barely won was transition defense. Syracuse was outscored by 20 on the fast break.
“At the end of the day where we didn’t do a good job was transition defense. They got 22 points in transition. That's where we didn’t do a good at,” SU head coach Adrian Autry said. “That just can’t happen, right. When I talked to our guys about that they understood that. We can’t do that, we gotta get back.”
Like last week against Le Moyne, SU forward Chris Bell struggled in the first half. However, the junior found his rhythm in the second. Bell scored all 15 of his points in the final 20 minutes.
“I don’t like to take bad shots. I feel like in the first half I took a few shots that I personally didn’t like,” SU forward Chris Bell said. "So in the second half, I was just getting more comfortable and playing basketball and having more fun with it.”
Despite Bell’s big second half, the Orange could not pull away. The Raiders had numerous chances to take the lead in the closing stages thanks to some big missed free throws from the 'Cuse. Syracuse finished the contest 4-8 from the charity stripe. Three of its four misses came inside the final minute.
“I would love for us to make these free throws,” coach Autrey said, “but we didn't. That's just how the ball bounces.”
Over its first two games this season, Syracuse has only shot 50 percent from the free throw line.
SU has a couple of days off until it hosts Youngstown State on Saturday. The Orange and Penguins have never played each other. Gametime is set for 1. WAER’s coverage starts at 12:30 with countdown to tipoff.