Syracuse Wins 4th in Last 5 Contests

With less than a week before Christmas, the Syracuse Orange (7-4) hosted the Northeastern Huskies (4-5) after having won three of their last four games this season.

The Huskies would be tied with the Orange at 14-all before the Orange advanced themselves out to a double-digit lead at the break, 41-31.

At the 16-minute media timeout, Syracuse remained ahead, 48-40, with Northeastern out-scoring Syracuse 9-7 in the early portion of the second half.

The Orange came out of that timeout with a 9-4 run to give them a 13-point advantage, ahead 57-44.

Senior forward William Kyle, III, took the alley from junior guard Naithan George and slammed it home as the announcer exclaimed "6-7!" with the dunk giving Syracuse a 67-59 lead.

When the Huskies got within seven, 67-60, the Orange responded with a 7-0 run to get back ahead by double-digits, 74-60.

But missed free throws and defensive blunders offered an open door for Northeastern who came within two possessions, down six with 3:12 to play after a layup by sophomore guard Ryan Williams made it 79-73 Syracuse.

The game would get back to two possessions of separation with 2:03 remaining when senior forward Youri Fritz's jumper brought the Huskies deficit to 80-75.

A three-point field goal by junior guard JB Frankel would make it a six-point game again, this time at 89-83, as the Huskies continued to remain alive.

However, two free throws by sophomore forward Tylet Betsey followed by a missed attempt from deep by Frankel would secure Syracuse's fourth win in five games, this by a score of 91-83 over Northeastern, moving the Orange to 8-4 on the season while the Huskies dipped to 4-6.

Syracuse came in with the worst free-throw percentage in the entire country of 365 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball programs.

They ended this match-up 34-for-48 from the charity stripe.

George led the way for the Orange with 22 points to go with six rebounds and six assists, followed by true freshman guard Kiyan Anthony who had 18 points and Kyle, Betsey, and redshirt-senior guard Nate Kingz who all finished with 14 points apiece.

Northeastern had three players end the game in double-figures: Williams with 20 points, redshirt-freshman forward Xander Alarie with 19, and Fritz with 17.