Spring Break
Men fall to Syracuse in quarterfinal after 6 OT battle
Game second longest in NCAA history
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 3/13/09 Section: Big East Championship
When Eric Devendorf drilled an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer of regulation, it appeared, for a moment, that Syracuse had escaped with a 74-71 victory in one of the most competitive basketball games the Big East tournament has ever seen.
Syracuse paraded around the court, knocked over the press table and celebrated an epic ending that was sure to go down in history.
Little did the Orange know that it would take 30 more minutes of basketball for the real celebration to start.
An official review ruled that Devendorf's miraculous shot came milliseconds after the buzzer and what ensued was, according to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, "the greatest game ever played."
After six grueling overtimes, eight foulouts, 67 minutes played by Johnny Flynn, 34 points scored by Flynn, 33 A.J. Price points and a near-Jonathan Mandeldove sighting, sixth-seeded Syracuse was the last team standing: 127-117.
The Big East quarterfinal, which started at 9:36 Thursday night and didn't end until 1:22 Friday morning, was the second longest game in NCAA basketball history. The longest was a Dec. 21, 1981 game match-up between Cincinnati and Bradley, which went seven overtimes and had a duration of four hours and 46 minutes.
There were points during Thursday night's game where the players admittedly just wanted it to end. Price and Flynn came out laughing at the beginning of each overtime, thinking, as Price put it "I can't believe this is happening."
"I just wanted to get the game over with," Flynn said. "I was like whoever wins, wins the game. Let's just go home."
Following the legendary victory, Boeheim, despite the late hour, was a barrel of laughs.
"It would have been a lot better if they counted Eric's shot and we could have just got out of there," Boeheim joked.
Though Flynn - who was a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line - was clearly the catalyst in the win, forward Paul Harris wasn't too shabby himself. Harris muscled his way to 29 points and 22 rebounds (third all-time in Big East tournament history), despite landing a spot on the bench at 12:59 in the second half after a palming violation and did not return until 2:53 remained. Harris jokingly attributed his late-game bounce - he scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the overtime sessions - to his stint on the bench in the second half.
Syracuse paraded around the court, knocked over the press table and celebrated an epic ending that was sure to go down in history.
Little did the Orange know that it would take 30 more minutes of basketball for the real celebration to start.
An official review ruled that Devendorf's miraculous shot came milliseconds after the buzzer and what ensued was, according to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, "the greatest game ever played."
After six grueling overtimes, eight foulouts, 67 minutes played by Johnny Flynn, 34 points scored by Flynn, 33 A.J. Price points and a near-Jonathan Mandeldove sighting, sixth-seeded Syracuse was the last team standing: 127-117.
The Big East quarterfinal, which started at 9:36 Thursday night and didn't end until 1:22 Friday morning, was the second longest game in NCAA basketball history. The longest was a Dec. 21, 1981 game match-up between Cincinnati and Bradley, which went seven overtimes and had a duration of four hours and 46 minutes.
There were points during Thursday night's game where the players admittedly just wanted it to end. Price and Flynn came out laughing at the beginning of each overtime, thinking, as Price put it "I can't believe this is happening."
"I just wanted to get the game over with," Flynn said. "I was like whoever wins, wins the game. Let's just go home."
Following the legendary victory, Boeheim, despite the late hour, was a barrel of laughs.
"It would have been a lot better if they counted Eric's shot and we could have just got out of there," Boeheim joked.
Though Flynn - who was a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line - was clearly the catalyst in the win, forward Paul Harris wasn't too shabby himself. Harris muscled his way to 29 points and 22 rebounds (third all-time in Big East tournament history), despite landing a spot on the bench at 12:59 in the second half after a palming violation and did not return until 2:53 remained. Harris jokingly attributed his late-game bounce - he scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the overtime sessions - to his stint on the bench in the second half.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Sports are for Idiots
posted 3/13/09 @ 8:49 AM EST
yawn.
...
posted 3/13/09 @ 10:22 AM EST
Well, Calhoun throws a hissy fit during a press conference, and losses the championship.
I hope he learned his lesson
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