Gerry McNamara leads Syracuse to emotional win in first game as head coach over New Haven

When news broke Sunday afternoon that Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Gerry McNamara’s father, Gerard McNamara, had died, support poured out. McNamara, a former Syracuse player, was one day away from his head-coaching debut at the JMA Wireless Dome.

But as the lights dimmed and McNamara took the floor just before tipoff Monday night, all focus turned to basketball. In the end, McNamara and Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat New Haven (0-1, 0-0 Northeast Conference) 74-58 in the season opener.

The Orange jumped out to an 18-0 lead, and New Haven didn’t make a basket until nearly eight minutes into the game. SU was led by guard Gavin Doty, who had five points and an assist during the run.

The Siena transfer finished with 14 points, going 3 of 7 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line, and a game-high 13 rebounds in his Syracuse debut.

“He’s just a good player. You can put him in the middle of a zone, he can isolate and score, he can hit the three. But regardless of what he does offensively he’s going to compete every night,” McNamara said of Doty. “The kid just lays it on the line physically … he impacts winning. The kid does it all.”

The respect was mutual. After the game, Doty reflected on his relationship with McNamara and what it meant to get the win on opening night.

But Syracuse’s leading scorer was sophomore Kiyan Anthony. One of just two returners from the SU squad that finished 15-17 last season, Anthony fell two points short of his career high. He scored a team-high 17 points off the bench, going 5 of 12 from the field, with three rebounds and three assists.

“Obviously we all love G-Mac highly, and that’s fans included. For us to welcome him back the way we did and come up with this win, that was our way of thanking him,” Anthony said after the win.

“Me and Gerry’s relationship is a little bit deeper than everybody else … I feel like the least I could do is go out there and play hard and try my best,” Anthony said.

The other returner, forward Sadiq White Jr., had 14 points, going 5 of 10 from the field, with 10 rebounds and a game-high two blocks. The sophomore was active on both ends of the floor.

But it wasn’t exactly a smooth ride for the ‘Cuse. Syracuse took a 39-17 lead into halftime, but New Haven outscored the Orange 41-35 in the second half.

McNamara wasn’t happy.

“Decision-making came into play, shot quality and selection came into play, and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot in terms of the momentum,” McNamara said. “In the second half we’re going to have a ton of film. I’ve talked about our discipline as a group, both sides of the basketball we need to be a lot better.”

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One SU player who didn’t have the strongest start was guard Ryan Moesch. The 6-foot guard missed all eight shots he took and turned the ball over once. That was a far cry from the expectations McNamara has set for him, and McNamara didn’t mince words after the game.

“I think Ryan played terrible. And he had five assists. Terrible for what I expect from him,” McNamara said. “I think he can be one of the best point guards in the country, that’s why I’m so hard on him. The kid [still] impacts the game, he can get downhill and make plays.”

On the other side, the Chargers were led by guard Teshaun Steele. The sophomore had a career-high and game-high 18 points, making 7 of 11 shots, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range. Despite Steele’s efforts down the stretch, New Haven never got within 15 points.

New Haven also outshot Syracuse overall, shooting 43% from the field and 33% from 3-point range, compared with the Orange’s 39% and 29%.

But the biggest discrepancy came at the free-throw line. Syracuse made 18 of 25 free throws, while New Haven made only five of nine.

SU has now won seven straight season openers, all at home. The win also snapped a six-game losing streak that carried over from the end of last season.

Syracuse returns to the JMA Wireless Dome to face Central Connecticut State (0-1, 0-0 NEC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. WAER’s pregame coverage begins with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff at 6:30 p.m.