PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The United States Mint of Philadelphia officially halted minting pennies this week, and in the second half of the Syracuse-Drexel game the Orange defense stopped Drexel from dropping dimes. After a tightly contested first half, Syracuse dug in defensively and pulled away to win 80-50 inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Syracuse senior guard JJ Starling did not play with a right leg injury. Kiyan Anthony made his second start with the program with Carmelo Anthony sitting courtside. Anthony led all scorers with 18 points to go with 3 rebounds. Donnie Freeman and Naithan George finished with 13 points each. William Kyle finished just shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
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The Syracuse (3-0) defense didn’t hold up for the first half as Drexel (1-3) jumped out to an early lead. The Dragons diced Syracuse’s man-to-man for easy looks, including 3-3 from outside. Anthony did hold up in the first half, however, as he scored a quick seven points to buoy his team early. Tyler Betsey and Sadiq White checked in first off the bench for the Orange. Bryce Zephir checked in thereafter and immediately picked up a steal for a transition score. Anthony played point guard while he and Zephir were briefly in at backcourt together.
A quarter way through the first half White picked up his second foul by going over the back. Autry, not wanting to gamble, replaced him with Kingz. From there Betsey and Kingz connected on back-to-back triples to give Syracuse the lead back at 19-17. The Orange would lead the rest of the way. Betsey would take a forearm shot to the ribs just after, however. He fell down and appeared to injure an ankle. He was able to walk on his own volition but limped back to the locker room and did not return for the rest of the game.
Following a George layup just before the halftime buzzer, Syracuse went into the break holding a narrow 37-32 lead. The Orange won the turnover battle but was out-rebounded 19-9 in the first half. Anthony led all scorers with a dozen at the break while Freeman had nine.
Out of the half Syracuse picked up the intensity on defense and extended its lead. Anthony continued his scoring and George had a pair of buckets to give Syracuse some breathing room.
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Adrian Autry had his team press and his guys obliged his decision by forcing two quick turnovers. White – back in the game for the first time since his two fouls – scored four quick points that pushed Syracuse’s lead to double-digits. A timeout by Drexel after a near five-second violation had the Orange bench at its most exuberant on the night.
Leading by 13, Fennell made his first appearance of the game with 12:02 to play in the second half. He and Zephir paired in the backcourt for extended time. Fennell made good on his play as his first three found the bottom of the net. Syracuse was starting to pull away up 16 with 10 minutes to play. After a William Kyle bucket, Fennell was fouled on a three. He made all three to push Syracuse’s lead to blackjack. With the Dragons withering down the stretch, Kyle and Freeman had scores inside to push Syracuse’s lead to 25.
Autry, still pressing with a large point lead late in the second half, challenged an out-of-bounds call that went Drexel’s way. Autry won the challenge and Syracuse was awarded possession. The Orange maintained a 30 point lead down the stretch. After a Zephir layup, Autry motioned to Chieffing Diawara and Noah Lobdell. Lobdell recorded a steal and Diawara finished with a transition dunk as Syracuse won going away.
Next up
Syracuse will have one more tuneup before heading out for the Player’s Era Festival in Las Vegas. The Orange returns home to host Monmouth on Tuesday. That game tips at 9pm from the JMA Wireless Dome and airs on ACC Network.
