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No. 10 Syracuse survives scare from William & Mary

Nov 21, 2010 - 11:56 PM Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Kris Joseph led all scorers with 18 points, and No. 10 Syracuse edged William & Mary 63-60 in a squeaker at the Carrier Dome.

Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine added 11 points apiece for the Orange (4-0), who were coming off three consecutive double-digit wins to open the season.

Marcus Kitts and Quinn McDowell both scored 16 points for the Tribe (0-3), who coughed up a lead in the last three minutes of the game and failed to pull off what would have been a shocking victory in the Legends Classic.

The first-ever meeting between the teams was not the lopsided contest it was expected to be.

William & Mary survived deficits of 12-2 and 20-9 in the first half to pull within 32-30 at intermission after Matt Rum drained a three-pointer with just over a minute remaining.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim wasn't happy with his team's effort near the end of the half.

"We made a couple of defensive mistakes and offensively we just didn't do anything," said Boeheim.

It was tighter down the stretch than he would have liked as Boeheim's team struggled against William & Mary's zone defense.

The Tribe had a 60-56 lead with 3:06 remaining after a Kitts dunk, but Syracuse went on to score the final seven points of the game to earn the win.

Jardine sparked the rally on a layup with just over 2 1/2 minutes to play and then found Joseph for an easy basket 21 seconds later to tie the game. William & Mary called a timeout, but it didn't stop the bleeding.

The final three Syracuse points came on free throws, icing the win.

Game Notes

Syracuse started its season with double-digit home wins over Northern Iowa (68-46), Canisius (86-67) and Detroit (66-55)...The Tribe played their third straight road game to open the season. They dropped double-digit decisions to both Virginia (76-52) and Richmond (73-49) in the first two.