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Greene dominates as Syracuse wins third straight

Nov 17, 2007 - 4:09 AM SYRACUSE, New York (Ticker) -- Freshman Donte Greene scored 16 of his 25 points in the first half to help 25th-ranked Syracuse to an 80-63 victory over Fordham on Friday.

Eric Devendorf added 17 for Syracuse (3-0), which shot 57 percent (30-of-52) to notch its third straight win.

Devendorf, who led the team in scoring last season, is just seven points shy of becoming the 49th player in school history to amass 1,000 points in a career.

But it was Greene who set the tone early as he scored his team's first 11 points and 13 of the first 17.

"It was just part of what I feel I can do," Greene said. "When my team was down, I stepped up and got the team rolling.

"Donte got us going early," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "He was tremendous early and then everybody picked it up after that. It was a good overall effort."

Syracuse will next play Ohio State on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Tip-off at Madison Square Garden.

"It's been a good week," Boeheim said. "We couldn't be in a better position going into New York."

Greene, who shot 10-of-14 from the floor and grabbed nine rebounds, is excited to be headed to New York.

"The Garden is the Mecca of basketball," Greene said. "It's a great place to play, and it's a fun atmosphere. The fans there understand the game just as well as the players. As soon as you walk in you know it's going to be a good game."

The Orange held a slim five-point lead at 26-21 with 8:45 left in the half, but freshman forward Rick Jackson scored seven points, and Flynn notched three assists during a 17-8 run which provided a 43-29 lead at the break.

Bryant Dunston scored 20 and Brenton Butler added 16 for Fordham (2-2), which trailed by double digits the entire second half and could only get as close 57-46 with 11:16 remaining. The Orange then used a 14-6 run to put the game out of reach.