Syracuse basketball wraps up exhibition play with blowout win over Slippery Rock

Syracuse dominated in the final exhibition of the season, winning 96-51 over Slipper Rock Wednesday night inside the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange started slowly amid another line-up change to start the game. Against Slippery Rock, neither Naheem McLeod nor Eddie Lampkin Jr started the game, and it showed. The starting lineup was Jaquan Carlos, JJ Starling, Chris Bell, Donnie Freeman and Jyare Davis. 

The offense looked sloppy and struggled to hit shots to begin the game. Heavily reliant on transition three-pointers, by the 7:39 mark, the Orange was only ahead 21-16. That is when Syracuse asserted its dominance. After the under eight media time-out, the Orange went on a 30-8 run to close the half and take a 51-24 to the locker room. 

The second half was more of the same for the Orange but at a much better pace than the start of the game. They scored at will and flew around on defense. 

Against a much smaller opponent the Orange still shot 32 three-pointers in the game and that is not expected to change.

"This is a very good three-point shooting team, We practice it a lot, and we have the ability. We have guys that shoot it at a really high level," head coach Adrian Autry said. 

Chris Bell made the most of his night, scoring 17 points with three rebounds and three assists. Bell also shot 5-8 from three. Freshman Donnie Freeman scored 11 points with three rebounds and one assist. Elijah Moore, Jaquan Carlos, and Jyare Davis put their stamps on the game. Both Moore and Davis scored in double figures, with Moore having 12 on 44% from the three-point line. Davis had ten on 2-3 from three-point range and 3-6 from the field. 

Carlos, faithful to his point guard status, had six assists, commanding the offense. 

Transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr. only played five minutes after playing 20 on Saturday but he was efficient.

"I'm ready to go for Monday. I just have a little soreness in my back," said Lampkin.

He knocked down a three and had two rebounds. Other front-court commander, Naheem McLeod, played 14 minutes after only playing five on Saturday. Mcleod was 4-5 from the field for nine points and seven rebounds. 

With Lampkin and McLeod playing limited minutes rebounding was an issue.

"The rebounding thing is something that is still a work in progress. I thought we defended a little bit better this game," Autry said. 

The Orange will open up the regular season on Monday, Nov. 4th against Le Moyne in one that coach says will be exciting.

"For the community to have this game and for them to be division one now, I think it's a lot of excitement," Autry said.