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No. 23 Syracuse takes down Hampton

Nov 17, 2014 - 1:22 AM Syracuse, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Rakeem Christmas scored 15 points with 16 rebounds to lead No. 23 Syracuse to a 65-47 victory over Hampton on Sunday.

Chris McCullough had 13 points with four rebounds for the Orange (2-0), who opened the season on Friday with a 47-point win over Kennesaw State.

"We did some good things, although we didn't attack it quite as well as we'd like to," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.

Quinton Chievous had 17 points and five rebounds for the Pirates (0-2), who lost to Iowa on Friday.

"We played well, but we didn't finish. We're 0-2, but I think we can grow," Hampton coach Edward Joyner Jr. said.

Hampton stayed in striking distance for much of the game and trailed by six, 48-42, after Dwight Meikle made a jumper with 8 1/2 minutes to play.

Syracuse, though, scored the next 10 points as Hampton went six minutes without scoring a point. Michael Gbinije capped the run with a three-point play for a 58-42 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Chievous hit a triple to break the cold snap, but McCullough followed with a pair of free throws and Gbinije put the game away with a 3-pointer.

Syracuse led for much of the first half, but Hampton was able to keep pace and trailed by one after Meikle put in a basket with just over nine minutes to play.

The Orange, though, scored the final four points of the half to take a 35-27 lead into the break.

Game Notes

Syracuse shot 41.5 percent from the floor, while Hampton made 37 percent of its attempts ... This was the first meeting between these two schools.