Terriers take on Orange in Maui Invitational regional action

Nov 18, 2013 - 3:41 PM Syracuse, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers will head upstate to the Carrier Dome for a non-conference matchup with the No. 9 Syracuse Orange as part of regional action of the Maui Invitational.

The Terriers began their campaign with a 66-62 overtime victory over the ACC's Miami Hurricanes and then picked up a two-point win in Boca Raton over Mike Jarvis's Florida Atlantic Owls. St. Francis Brooklyn fell to 2-1 on Saturday as it was defeated, 78-58, by the Dayton Flyers. Coach Glenn Braica is now in his fourth season at the helm of the program and owns a 44-49 career record.

It has been smooth sailing so far for the Orange, who have reeled off three double-digit decisions over Cornell (82-60), Fordham (89-74) and Colgate (69-50) for a perfect start. Coach Jim Boeheim's squad has been unstoppable on the glass, outrebounding its opposition by an average of 16.3 boards per game. ACC Preseason Player of the Year C.J. Fair has been the key player for Syracuse with an average of 21.3 points per game during the perfect start.

This will be the fourth meeting between the Terriers and Syracuse. The Orange have won all the previous encounters. St. Francis Brooklyn was defeated, 75-51, on Dec. 13, 2009 at the Carrier Dome.

St. Francis will have trouble on Monday if it does not make an effort to take better care of the ball. After committing 17 turnovers in each of their games in Florida, the Terriers were guilty of 21 miscues at UD Arena which the Flyers converted into 30 points. Dayton also held a 36-24 edge in points in the paint. Junior forward Jalen Cannon had a solid performance in the loss, tallying 14 points and eight boards. The 6-foot-6 forward was named to the Second Team All Northeast Conference Squad in 2012-13 after finishing second in the conference in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and also tying for second with 10 double-doubles. Freshman center Wayne Martin has made a big impact through his first three games with 12.7 points and six boards per outing and senior guard Ben Mockford (10.3 ppg) is also a threat offensively. Martin was named the NEC Rookie of the Week after he scored the game-winning field goal at FAU.

Syracuse's 2-3 zone has been efficient through three games as its opposition has hit on just 40.3 percent of its field goal tries to net 61.3 ppg. Fair is clearly one of the best players in the nation and he will be looking for his third consecutive 20-point output versus the Terriers, who will have their hands full due to the Orange's versatility on the offensive end. Freshman guard Tyler Ennis is both a playmaker and also a lights out shooter from the perimeter. Jerami Grant has made strides from a season ago and registered his first career double-double versus Fordham with 16 points and 10 boards. Trevor Cooney showed he can take over a game in the season opener versus Cornell with 27 points, but he has hit on only 3-of-15 shots from the floor over his past two outings.