Every year, right at the start of the college basketball season, David slays Goliath.Last year, Kentucky lost to run-and-gun VMI in the Wildcat's third game of the season. Two years ago, Grand Valley State upset Michigan State in an exhibition game.
This season, Syracuse bit the proverbial bullet, falling to "crosstown rival" Le Moyne, 82-79 in the team's first exhibition game at the Carrier Dome. [Box Score]
The Orange's Wes Johnson put up 34 points on the night, but was overshadowed by another, dare I say, bigger Johnson. (Well, physically he's smaller, but spiritually, at least on this night, he was enormous.)
Le Moyne's Christopher Johnson, an Iowa State transfer, scored 22 points coming off the bench and nailed a three with eight seconds left to seal the upset for the Dolphins.Junior center Laurence Ekperigin, one of only four players in Le Moyne's 61-season history to record 1,300 points and 800 rebounds, scored 20 points as well for in the winning effort.
Let's be honest, does an exhibition loss to a Division II team strike a blow to Syracuse's chances this season? No. Is it a cause for concern? Probably not.
The season hasn't even started yet.
But Syracuse certainly has a lot of improving to do if they want to compete for a Big East title this season. Or, of more immediate concern, if Cuse wants to beat Albany next Monday in the season opener
As it stands, Boeheim's boys aren't even the best basketball team in town.
(Reminds me of Klaus from "Life Aquatic, who so famously says, "Yeah, but you stitched me onto the dolphin, and I want you to know how much that means to me.")
Here's a giddy, florid rundown of Le Moyne's victory and the post-game reaction.
LeMoyne is where Michigan coach John Beilein coached before he headed to Canisius.
tallguy -
I often run afoul of my contemporaries in these situations. I love a brutal mess as much as I do artistry. I also enjoy watching guys gut it out in those situations - I think it's inspiring.
Not to mention Devo's look-at-me celebration of a shot that was discounted, and the dude who came off the bench doing jumping jacks when everyone else was dog-tired. I'm sorry, but I'll remember that game forever.
I'm sorry, but if you're referring to the 6OT game, that was a slogfest of epic proportions...just because it wasn't decided in regular time doesn't make it an amazing game.
The only amazing part of that game was Flynn.
I remember the full-court shot from Ced Jackson that let Cleveland State upset them last year, and then they went on to play in one of the most amazing games I've ever seen during the Big East tourney, so perhaps this signals even bigger things.