Syracuse men’s basketball: Orange outlast Niagara 71-58

It was a fast start for the Syracuse Orange in Buffalo as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the Niagara Purple Eagles, but the Orange couldn’t keep their foot on the throttle as they finish the exhibition season with a win.

Syracuse started a smaller lineup this afternoon, going with Ryan Moesch, Garway Dual, Gavin Doty, Mark Morano and Luke Wilson. That group along with Amarri Monroe saw the most minutes in a game where Gerry McNamara used his bench liberally.

Doty and Wilson led the Orange with 14 and 12 points respectively. Doty added 14 rebounds while Moesch had 9 points and 6 assists. Logan Woods had 12 to lead Niagara.

Syracuse did a much better job on the glass as they held a 43-24 rebounding edge in this one. Without Aidan Tobiason, the Orange offense didn’t inspire a lot of confidence heading into the regular season. Syracuse finished the game shooting 44.8% from the field with just 6-25 from beyond the arc.

Even playing a lot of the bench early, Syracuse let Niagara back into the game in the first half. The Orange had a 17 point lead cut to 33-26 at the break. If not for some free throws in the final two minutes, the two teams were just about even in the second half.

The difference in this one was inside as Syracuse enjoyed a 36-18 advantage on points in the paint and a 13-2 edge on second chance points. In addition to the poor shooting from 3, Syracuse committed 14 turnovers against the Purple Eagles.

Kiyan Anthony was the only player not to score as he went 0-4 in this one. Anthony, Sadiq White and Francis Folefac all head into the regular season with undefined roles on this squad as Monroe and Moesch look poised to pass them all in the rotation.

The Orange will open the regular season on November 2nd against New Haven.

Sam will have a lot more from Buffalo tomorrow but what were your thoughts on this one?