CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Perry Clark’s two daughters should be thankful the Miami head coach resisted the urge to make a wager.

‘I would’ve bet my family,’ he said, ‘we wouldn’t get shut out the last eight minutes.’

Such a bet would’ve left the Clark clan stranded. His punchless Hurricanes indeed failed to score during the last 8:38 of the game, allowing the Syracuse men’s basketball team to escape Miami yesterday with a 54-49 win in front of 5,789 at the Convocation Center.

Syracuse won despite poor shooting from freshmen Gerry McNamara and Carmelo Anthony. In fact, SU (13-2, 4-1 Big East) barely outdid Miami’s (8-8, 1-4) futility during the infamous eight-minute span, converting only one field goal.

But the Orangemen’s defense, as it did last Wednesday against Seton Hall, held.

‘At the end of the game, we knew (Darius) Rice and (James) Jones were going to take the shots,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘I saw Rice put up 43 against Connecticut on Monday night. We weren’t going to let them get open looks.’

Even when they did, Rice and Jones mostly misfired. They combined for 9-of-29 shooting and 24 points. Before yesterday, they had combined to average 37.

Rice and Jones’ paltry shooting became most apparent during the Hurricanes’ eight-minute drought, when the two forwards shot a combined 0 of 8.

With 8:38 left, Jones spun near the lane and knocked down a jumper to put Miami ahead, 49-45. The Hurricanes followed that, though, by missing 3-pointers on four of their next seven possessions.

By the time Rice missed the fourth 3-pointer, Syracuse had taken a 50-49 lead on a Hakim Warrick dunk, Syracuse’s only field goal during the last eight minutes.

‘We had the right guys taking the shots,’ Clark said. ‘We just couldn’t make anything. The zone makes you make basketball plays. We did that in the first half. In the second, we did not.’

In the first half, Miami seemed to take control, finishing with a 17-5 run. Anthony sunk a 3-pointer to give Syracuse a 20-13 lead with 8:05 left in the half, but the Orangemen converted only one field goal the rest of the half — a 3-pointer from McNamara.

The first 20 minutes ended with the Hurricanes up, 30-25, but they managed only 19 second-half points.

‘I thought we played real good defensively through the whole course of the game,’ Anthony said. ‘We did a good job on Rice and James. We knew where they were all the time. (In the last eight minutes), we came out and challenged them a little more than what we’d been doing.’

For as well as Syracuse executed its 2-3 zone, the Hurricanes managed to stay in the game because McNamara and Anthony combined for 5-of-25 shooting and 15 points. Before yesterday, they had averaged 37.7 combined.

While Anthony has suffered through a few off nights, McNamara has been the model of consistency. Before yesterday’s three-point, 1-for-10-shooting performance, he had yet to score below 17 in a conference game.

During the last 32:05 of the game, neither Anthony nor McNamara hit a shot. Anthony got his three second-half points off free throws.

‘It’s just one of those days,’ McNamara said. ‘I’ll be back.’

The Orangemen might have lost — despite Miami’s 31.7-shooting percentage — if not for the efforts of Kueth Duany and Warrick.

Duany, who this season has been as inconsistent as McNamara has been consistent, finished with 17 points, his most in five games. After a subpar, four-point first half, Warrick responded with 14 in the second.

‘We’re a team,’ Duany said. ‘Carmelo and Gerry have carried us through some of the games. But it’s a win, and that’s the most important thing.’

Published on January 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm