MBB G’Town : Dj vu all over again: Another late 3 from McNamara proves difference in comeback as SU reaches final

NEW YORK – Eat, sleep, breathe and prove clutch in the final minute. It’s become second nature for Gerry McNamara and it continued on Friday.

McNamara provided end-of-game heroics for the third straight day in the Big East tournament, hitting a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining and assisting backcourt mate Eric Devendorf for the eventual game-winning lay-up.

After a disappointing two months, the Orange turned around its season in three nights, rebuilding its confidence, developing a swagger and finding itself improbably in the Big East Championship title game after upsetting Georgetown, 58-57, at Madison Square Garden. SU’s three wins have come by a combined four points.

Syracuse plays No. 15 Pittsburgh on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the final. The Panthers upset No. 2 Villanova in the other semifinal, 68-54. On Jan. 23, Pittsburgh beat Syracuse, 80-67, at the Petersen Events Center.

It’s a dramatic turn of events from three days ago, when SU (22-11) looked like it was on the outside looking-in of the NCAA Tournament. But a win over Cincinnati on Wednesday with a McNamara buzzer-beating 3-pointer and a Thursday victory against No. 1 Connecticut thanks to a McNamara game-tying 3-pointer has Syracuse suddenly playing impressive basketball.



‘We didn’t want to just say, ‘Oh, we beat UConn, hopefully, we’re in the Tournament, let’s go home,” McNamara said. ‘We didn’t want it to be like that. That’s not how this team is.’

It came in a second half which the Orange erased a 15-point halftime deficit, clawing its way back against the Hoyas’ methodical, time-eating offense. The task was difficult. The execution near flawless. The result rewarding.

‘We said, ‘Let’s cut it to 10 in the first six minutes,’ and we got it to nine in five minutes,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We wanted to cut it again by the 10-minute mark. We did a little better than we thought.’

A little better was led by SU’s big-time senior star. McNamara was fighting a groin injury in the first half, playing 12 minutes and scoring two points. Boeheim said McNamara entered the game at 50 percent but there was no doubt he would play. McNamara credited SU’s trainer for preparing him, citing ice baths as one method for getting him ready.

While it took some time for McNamara to spread his influence, it came at an opportune time. By the second half, McNamara reverted to the form that’s put him in headlines around the nation over the past two days, scoring 15 second half points, all on 3-pointers.

He hit three 3-pointers from in the second half from the 12:43 mark to 10:28, a span in which the Orange cut a 12-point Hoyas (21-9) lead to four points. The Orange tied the game for the first time with 6:41 in the second half, when forward Matt Gorman drilled a 3-pointer for three of his six points. The Orange’s first – and only – lead came during last minute heroics.

Up by four points with 2:13 reaming, Georgetown stalled the ball, letting the seconds tick away and SU’s upsets hopes wane. Georgetown guard Darrel Owens missed a 3-pointer as the shot clock’s buzzer sounded but forward Jeff Green grabbed the offensive rebound. The clock continued to tick and SU fans grew restless.

The Orange gained possession with 1:06 remaining and called timeout 11 seconds later. As anyone who’s even put on the news in the past two days can guess, the inbound went to Gerry McNamara, who speeded the ball upcourt and hit a 3-pointer to cut the Hoyas’ lead to one point with 48 seconds remaining.

‘He’s a big time player, he’s a big shot-maker,’ Boeheim said. ‘As long as we get Gerry some looks, he’s going to make his share.’

SU’s defense then proved its worth. Gorman stole the ball with 16 seconds remaining. Forward Demetris Nichols picked it up and found McNamara on the fast break. The senior then dished it to Devendorf for the game-winning lay-up. SU thwarted Georgetown’s final attempt.

Lost in the win, though, was a poor outing from Terrence Roberts. The junior power forward only played 13 minutes and was 0-for-5 shooting. Boeheim said Roberts had two huge games ‘until tonight.’ But Gorman stepped up in his place and Roberts’ fellow juniors, Darryl Watkins and Nichols, chipped in eight points and 10 points, respectively.

But it was McNamara who is clearly the leader of the pack. Nichols and Watkins both said they’ve never seen anything like the current adulation for McNamara and Nichols indicated that he’s ‘proud’ of his captain.

McNamara, though, is all business. He came here with a mission and Friday night was another milestone. The Orange became the first team in the history of the Big East tournament to win a game the day after claiming a victory in an overtime battle. Sixteen teams tried; all failed, until SU. On Saturday, it’ll seek to become the first team in the tournament to win four games in a row.

‘We played two tough games and it’s easy to lay over on this third one,’ McNamara said. ‘But I’m proud that we battled back. First two games we blew a lead. This time we had to come back from a lead, and that’s pretty impressive.’





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