Think of all the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s shooters.

Freshman Demetris Nichols is a 3-point ace, finally finding his shot after starting inconsistently. Over his last two games, he’s shooting 8-for-15.

He’s shooting just 44.4 percent from the free-throw line for the year.

Louie McCroskey, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, hits just 42.1 percent of his free throws.

Josh Pace is a guard, too. So, despite his awkward arm-contorting shot, you would figure his free throw percentage is higher than 41.1 percent. But it’s not.

These are Syracuse’s guards. Guards are supposed to be good at the free-throw line. But aside from Gerry McNamara – who is hitting a team-best 87.1 percent from the line – SU is just a 58.2 percent foul-shooting team, not much worse than the 64.1 percent clip SU has with McNamara. As Syracuse creeps deeper into the NCAA Tournament, missed free throws could cost the Orangemen a game, which ultimately could mean the season.

It nearly cost them on Saturday, when Syracuse escaped with a 72-70 win over Maryland in the tournament’s second round. Syracuse hit 24 of 38 free throws, a 63 percent clip, bettered by McNamara’s 7-for-8 day.

The third-best foul shooter on Syracuse is center Craig Forth, who stood at the line with SU up five. Forth, a 75.8 percent foul shooter entering the game, missed four attempts in the game’s final minute, allowing Maryland a chance to tie at the end, when Maryland’s D.J. Strawberry missed two good field-goal attempts, both of which rimmed out.

‘Obviously when we miss shots like that, it hurts,’ Forth said. ‘Gerry missed one, I missed four. I don’t even know what I was looking at. But I had a double-double, which is all that really matters.’

Then, Forth, who finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, lifted his head and grew defensive – even a bit sarcastic – about the misses.

‘I think we were up by two at the end, I don’t know if you remember that or not,’ Forth hissed. ‘We won. So that’s all that matters.’

Just before Strawberry’s drive, even McNamara, who’s acknowledged he hates missing free throws, missed the first end of his free-throw set.

SU’s inability to make foul shots forced McNamara to dash around defenders in hopes of receiving the inbounds pass, since no other Orangeman is reliable at the line.

‘I was a little nervous, especially when Gerry missed that one, and I was like, ‘Oh, man,” Warrick said. ‘I was thinking it’s just not our game.’

Warrick may be the biggest cog for Syracuse at the line. The 6-foot-8 junior usually spins back and forth in the lane, drawing double teams and, many times, fouls.

Warrick finished 10-for-15 from the line Saturday and is a 69.2 percent shooter this season. He has 240 attempts this season, by far the most on SU.

Still, most players say the free throws don’t concern them.

‘I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem,’ Pace said. ‘I mean, we missed some free throws. And Gerry missed a couple free throws, too. But as long as you can find a way to win, the free throws are gonna come. Just work on them, practice on them. We found another way to win tonight, so the free throws will come.’

On Saturday, Syracuse shot 11-for-22 from the line in the second half. Without McNamara, who finished 7-for-8 from the line, SU hit 17 of 30 shots at the line.

Alabama, meanwhile, boasts three starters – Kennedy Winston, Earnest Shelton and Antoine Pettway – who shoot better than 70 percent from the line.

In its 70-67 upset win over No. 1 Stanford on Saturday, Alabama hit 34 of 44 free throws – 77.3 percent.

‘In the tournament,’ Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said, ‘free-throw shooting is just paramount. Close games end on the line, so you better be good there.’

If Syracuse fails to improve at the line, it could end its season.

‘No, it doesn’t concern us,’ Warrick said. ‘Especially with Gerry, he’s a guy that’s not gonna miss a lot of free throws. Craig missed a couple, but he’s still a 70 percent free-throw shooter. So we just gotta concentrate more.’

Published on March 22, 2004 at 12:00 pm