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Men's Basketball
at Pitt (Exhibition)
2:00 p.m.
Providence College Athletics
Thursday, March 8
New York, N.Y.
9:00 PM ET
Providence College
54
at
55
Syracuse
No. 17 Syracuse Slips By Providence, 55-54
3/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2001
- Post Game Audio
Head Coach Tim Welsh
By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK - Syracuse, which led by 15 points at halftime, had to rally in the final five minutes for a 55-54 victory over Providence on Thursday, lifting the 17th-ranked Orangemen into the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
Syracuse (24-7) capped a quarterfinal day in which three of four teams that received first-round byes lost. The Orangemen will play Pittsburgh, which beat No. 19 Notre Dame, on Friday, with the winner advancing to the championship game. The Orangemen swept the two-game season series from the Panthers.
The other semifinal will have No. 10 Boston College, the only team with a bye that won, against Seton Hall.
Preston Shumpert, who had 31 points in the opening-round win over Connecticut, led the Orangemen with 14 points, while Damone Brown added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Erron Maxey led the Friars (21-9) with 10 points.
The first half couldn't have been much better for Syracuse, while it couldn't have been much worse for Providence.
The Orangemen used a 19-0 run to take a 21-6 lead with 7:57 left in the half. Providence went 10:28 without scoring and 12:28 without a field goal, going 0-for-13 from the field with seven turnovers in that stretch.
But the start of the second half couldn't have been much better for Providence, which opened with an 11-0 run to get within 32-28.
The Friars, who had been 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half, hit their first three shots from beyond the arc in that run. Chris Rogers hit Providence's eighth and final 3-pointer with 8:37 left to give the Friars a 45-43 lead.
Syracuse went ahead for good with 2:50 left when Billy Celuck laid in a loose ball on a missed shot for a 51-49 lead. The Orangemen couldn't put the game away from the line, missing four of six free throws over the final 50 seconds. They led 55-52 when the Friars started their final possession with 19 seconds left.
Maris Laksa's 3-point attempt from beyond the NBA line with four seconds to go was Providence's final chance at a tie. It fell short and Christopher Anrin put the rebound in at the buzzer for the final margin.
Providence, which was 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from the field in the first half, finished 21-for-60 (35 percent) overall and was 8-for-25 from 3-point range.
It was career win No. 599 for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
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