EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Give the guys in Vegas this scenario.

Syracuse trails Seton Hall by six points with 7:59 remaining, and SU head coach Jim Boeheim has to relegate super-stud freshman Carmelo Anthony, who has just been slapped with his fourth foul, to the bench.

Boeheim knew what the Vegas boys would say: Bet the house on the Pirates.

‘If you had to evaluate our chances when Carmelo Anthony got his fourth,’ Boeheim said, before pausing, ‘I’d say they were not good.’

But fueled by stud freshman No. 2 Gerry McNamara and senior Kueth Duany, the Orangemen fired off an improbable 16-9 run during the next five minutes and escaped their Big East opener at Continental Airlines Arena with a 70-66 victory in front of 8,415 fans.

Many of those spectators wearing blue and white left howling at the officials. Syracuse (9-1, 1-0 Big East) held a 68-66 lead with 14.2 seconds remaining, but the Pirates (5-6, 0-2) had possession. Guard John Allen fed Andre Sweet, who along with Kelly Whitney had punished the Orangemen in the paint all game, under the basket. In traffic, Sweet appeared to be fouled and lofted an errant shot.

The whistle never sounded, and McNamara secured the rebound. He added two free throws to ice the game.

‘There were some unbelievable calls,’ Boeheim said. ‘I don’t want to hear about the last call. You’ve got to overcome calls, and we overcame horrendous calls.’

Four foul calls, some questionable, forced Anthony to the bench for a 4:45 span in the second half. But McNamara swung the game with his defense and perimeter shooting.

He hit one three to close the Pirates’ lead to 53-50 and then followed a Seton Hall basket with another three to pull Syracuse to within two.

McNamara attempted his third consecutive three-pointer on the following possession. Although he misfired, he drew a foul from Allen and hit all three free throws, giving him nine straight points and tying the game, 56-56.

‘McNamara’s tough,’ Seton Hall head coach Louis Orr said. ‘He’s not your typical point guard, because he can shoot the ball. If he moves off the ball, he’s still a threat to score.’

On the next possession, Orr found out McNamara’s a threat on defense, too. Despite having gone against physical guard Andre Barrett for the previous 35 minutes, McNamara mustered enough energy to play an aggressive press.

He picked off a pass and fed Kueth Duany, who soared through the paint for a one-handed dunk that gave SU a lead it would never relinquish. When Anthony returned with 3:14 left, the Orangemen led, 63-62.

‘I think the steal was the turning point,’ said McNamara, who finished with 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting. ‘It fired us up, and it gave us a lift.’

‘I just got open shots, and I made them,’ said Duany, who led SU with 20 points and hit 6 of 8 shots. ‘There’s nothing special about it. I don’t remember plays. The play I remember was when the final buzzer went off.’

Long before that, in the first half, it appeared Syracuse’s porous defense would allow Seton Hall to secure its first Big East win. The Pirates put together a 16-2 run in the first half, scoring points in transition and taking advantage of SU’s centers and forwards.

The Pirates grabbed nine first-half offensive rebounds and outscored Syracuse, 22-12, in the paint. They also totaled seven fast-break points, while SU managed none.

Syracuse stayed in the game, trailing only 35-31 at halftime, mostly thanks to Anthony, who scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half. During the first 20 minutes, no other SU player collected more than five.

‘They were trying to mix it up (on defense in the second half),’ Anthony said. ‘I slowed down on offense. I had almost all of our points in the first half.’

Luckily for Anthony and the Orangemen, McNamara and Duany scored 30 of SU’s 39 second-half points.

‘The game really turned on (Duany) and Gerry, when ‘Melo went out with us down six,’ Boeheim said. ‘Our pressure got us just enough.’

Published on January 8, 2003 at 12:00 pm