Cougars Fall Short At Buzzer

Shamon Antrum missed a 3-point try at the buzzer and Syracuse held on to defeat Washington State 77-75 Saturday night to win its 14th straight Carrier Classic championship.

Syracuse (6-0) won the Carrier Classic for the 17th time in 19 years despite not scoring over the final 5:38.

It was the Orangemen’s closest challenge in the Carrier Classic since 1991 when Syracuse edged St. Joseph’s by two points.

Washington State’s Tavares Mack had a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds to play, but missed two foul shots.

Jason Cippola rebounded Mack’s second miss, but Otis Hill missed the front end of a one-and-one with 9.8 seconds, giving the Cougars (3-1) one last chance.

After a timeout with 5.4 seconds to play, Washington State inbounded the ball and Antrum got off a long 3-pointer that hit the back rim.

Syracuse led throughout the second half, although the Cougars stayed close. The Orangemen pushed their lead to 69-56 on a pair of free throws by John Wallace, who led Syracuse with 24 points and was named the tournament MVP.

But Antrum hit a 3-pointer and Isaac Fontaine scored 10 of his 19 points over the next 2 minutes to pull the Cougars within 75-69 with 6:03 left. Wallace’s two free throws with 5:38 to play were Syracuse’s final points and gave the Orangemen a 77-69 cushion.

Mark Hendrickson, who also had 19, scored on a pair of layups to cut Syracuse’s lead to four and Mack added a rebound basket with 1:07 to play to make it 77-75.

Both teams missed repeated scoring chances in the final 5 minutes.

Hill finished with 21 for Syracuse. Dominic Ellison had 19 for WSU.

Syracuse closed the first half with a 13-5 run that pushed its lead to 42-31 at the intermission. The spurt started with successive breakaway dunks by Todd Burgan, Hill and Wallace that forced the Cougars to call a timeout.

After a basket by Hendrickson, Syracuse tallied another seven straight points before Ellison sank a 3-pointer with 26.7 seconds remaining to end the scoring in the half.

Syracuse 77, WSU 75

WASHINGTON ST. (3-1)

Hendrickson 8-16 3-6 19, Fontaine 5-14 7-10 19, Mack 2-6 0-2 4, Antrum 4-9 2-3 12, Ellison 8-13 0-0 19, Daniel 0-1 0-0 0, Scott 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 28-60 12-22 75.

SYRACUSE (6-0)

Wallace 9-18 5-6 24, Burgan 2-6 0-0 4, Hill 9-15 3-5 21, Janulis 2-5 2-2 7, Sims 3-7 0-0 7, Cipolla 1-5 0-0 2, Reafsnyder 5-8 2-2 12, Patrick 0-0 0-0 0, Lazor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 12-15 77.

Halftime-Syracuse 42, Washington St. 31. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 7-18 (Ellison 3-5, Fontaine 2-4, Antrum 2-6, Hendrickson 0-3), Syracuse 3-13 (Wallace 1-2, Janulis 1-2, Sims 1-3, Cipolla 0-4). Fouled out-Burgan. Rebounds-Washington St. 36 (Hendrickson 12), Syracuse 39 (Wallace 8). Assists-Washington St. 12 (Ellison 7), Syracuse 16 (Sims 6). Total fouls-Washington St. 16, Syracuse 21. Technicals-Hill. A-21,002.