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Devendorf, Syracuse overwhelm Long Beach

Dec 13, 2008 - 7:06 PM SYRACUSE, New York (Ticker) -- Problems off the court did not appear to affect Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf.

The junior scored 13 points and dished out four assists to lead the 16th-ranked Orange past Long Beach State, 79-55, on Saturday at the Carrier Dome.

A Syracuse judiciary board on Wednesday recommended Devendorf be suspended for the remainder of the academic year for allegedly hitting a female student in the face.

The 21-year-old Devendorf is contesting the decision and is allowed to play during the appellate process, which is expected to take between two weeks and a month.

"When I'm out on court it's all about basketball for me," said Devendorf, when asked about the issue. "I try to leave it all out there, and I'm just glad to have the support of my teammates."

The distraction did little to slow down Syracuse (9-0), which matched its best start since 2001-02.

Arinze Onuaku joined Devendorf in double digits, leading all scorers with 17 points and pulling down six rebounds.

Syracuse's leading scorer this season, Jonny Flynn was held to nine points while Andy Rautins and Rick Jackson came off the bench to score 13 and 11, respectively.

The 49ers (4-5) kept things interesting early and trailed by just three points with under two minutes remaining in the first half.

However, four points from Devendorf in the closing seconds made it a 37-30 game after 20 minutes.

The game got away from Long Beach quickly in the second half as Syracuse opened with an 18-4 run - highlighted by eight points in the paint from the 6-9 Onuaku - to forge a commanding 55-34 advantage.

T.J. Robinson and Stephan Gilling had 12 points apiece for Long Beach, which has dropped three straight games after after winning four in a row.

Syracuse improved to 2-0 against the 49ers, having won the only prior meeting in 1990.