Syracuse squeaks by Le Moyne 86-82 in 2024-25 season opener

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Syracuse was supposed to dominate Le Moyne from start to finish. After all, the Dolphins are the program that joined Division I last year and are a small school located under three miles from SU’s campus.

Instead, there was no noticeable difference between the programs across the first half. Le Moyne led for nearly 80% of the first 20 minutes and the Orange never got into a groove. While SU never truly found its footing in the second half, it did just enough to secure a win.

Backed by a 51-41 second-half advantage, Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) erased a 41-36 halftime deficit to defeat Le Moyne (0-1, 0-0 Northeast Conference) 86-82 in its season opener. The Orange were led by Delaware transfer Jyare Davis’ 22 points and 12 rebounds while Chris Bell added 20 points. The Dolphins were held back by 16 turnovers, especially down the stretch.

Syracuse instantly looked discombobulated. First, it struggled to convert on inside looks against a Dolphins’ squad that doesn’t have a player over 6-foot-9. SU also struggled with basic fundamentals.

Le Moyne scored the first three points of the game following a Bell foul on a Freds Pauls Bagatskis 3-point attempt. Then, Ocypher Owens drilled a 3 over Donnie Freeman, giving Le Moyne a 6-2 lead.

A design play with Eddie Lampkin Jr., who only played six first-half minutes because of two fouls, at the top of the key set up a wide-open dunk for Bell to cut the Orange’s deficit to two. Following a Freeman miss and Bell turnover, though, Le Moyne easily scored on consecutive possessions in transition.

The teams traded scores for the next couple of minutes. But the Dolphins saw their lead grow to a game-high 17-8 at the first half’s 12:23 mark following another trio of free throws that came courtesy of a Lucas Taylor foul on a 3-point attempt. As a result, SU turned to a new-look lineup featuring freshman Petar Majstorovic and Davis, a Delaware transfer.

Instantly, each forward successfully converted on an and-one. However, the Orange couldn’t fully chip into the Dolphins’ lead because of their struggle from the free-throw line. In the first half, Syracuse was 10-of-16 from the charity stripe. Their shooting struggles were further exacerbated by converting just 2-of-9 3-point attempts.

Still, the Orange cut Le Moyne’s lead down to 21-17 following Taylor’s first points just under nine minutes until halftime. Following a brief stint on the bench, J.J. Starling checked back into the game and made an instant impact. He first drew a foul, making 1-of-2 free throws, before nailing a 3 to tie the game at 21-21 with under eight minutes until halftime.

SU took its first advantage on a Freeman 3-point snipe from the right wing. Its lead only lasted 13 seconds, as Jakob Blakley answered with a 3 of his own. The teams were deadlocked at 31-31 four minutes later. Yet, a sloppy end to the half saw the Orange head to the locker room trailing by five.

With Lampkin back on the court to begin the second half, SU instantly fed the center, who scored the first points of the half. It set the tone for the Orange to cut their deficit to 48-47, where Bell connected on just their third 3-pointer to tie the game at 50-50. The sharpshooter threw his arms in the air after connecting with the bottom of the net, giving life to Syracuse.

Yet, like it had all game, Le Moyne wouldn’t let Syracuse pull ahead.

Instantly following Bell’s 3, Nate Fouts connected with a triple of his own before nailing a mid-range shot to extend the Dolphins’ lead back to five. Bell and Fouts then traded layups before Davis cut the lead to 57-54 after bullying his way to the free-throw line at the 12:19 mark.

The Dolphins again ran their offense through Fouts, looking for an answer. But he turned the ball over, which led to an easy basket in transition for Freeman. Defensively, the Orange forced another turnover, propelling them to take their first lead of the half on an inside make from Davis coming out of the under-12 timeout.

Unlike the first half, SU built off its lead. Starling connected for his 10th point on a layup before back-to-back makes from Davis on a mid-range step back and Bell on a right-side corner 3 gave Syracuse a 65-60 lead — its largest of the game — with just under nine minutes remaining.

Even with momentum on its side for the first time all game, SU quickly squandered its lead. After Blakley drilled two free throws, the Dolphins forced Freeman into one of his nine misses from the field before Pauls Bagatskis drilled a game-tying 3.

Bell, who was 2-of-6 from 3, tried answering with a triple of his own but missed the mark. Davis grabbed the ensuing rebound and got fouled. Because SU was in the bonus, Davis drilled both free throws following the under-8 timeout.

The Dolphins kept fighting, regaining a 68-67 lead with 6:43 remaining, but that was their last advantage of the game. Following a timeout, Starling maneuvered into the paint before spinning home an acrobatic drive. Then, after an offensive foul on Pauls Bagatskis, Davis rattled home his 19th point off point guard Jaquan Carlos’ sixth assist.

In the end, it was Le Moyne losing the game rather than SU winning it. Another unforced Dolphins turnover led to Lampkin extending Syracuse’s lead to five with five minutes remaining. Then, following two more turnovers on as many possessions, Davis converted on a dunk and free throw, giving the Orange a 76-68 lead.

A Will Amica 3-pointer and three free throws from Pauls Bagatskis got Le Moyne back into the game with 3:30 remaining. The Orange appeared to overcome the push by getting their lead back up to seven with 2:41 to go.

But, Le Moyne responded with a 5-0 run on a Dwayne Koroma layup and Trent Mosquera transition 3 to cut the game to within a possession with less than a minute to play. Starling went to work down the lane, improving SU’s lead to 83-79 with 34 seconds left. Yet, Pauls Bagatskis answered with his third 3-pointer to cut the lead down to one with 22 seconds remaining.

The Dolphins fouled Carlos, who proceeded to make 1-of-2 free throws. With a chance to tie or take the lead, Le Moyne instead committed another foul. A pair of free throws from Bell iced the game for the Orange.

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