NOTRE DAME, Ind. – As Gerry McNamara trotted up the court, fellow guard Eric Devendorf detected a switch in Notre Dame’s defensive alignment.

‘Hey, it’s zone Gerry!’ the freshman yelled.

The senior crossed the halfcourt line, passed to Devendorf who then pitched it back.

McNamara proceeded to drain a 3-pointer from straight away.

Yet another bomb for McNamara and the Orange. The shot capped a 9-0 Syracuse run, giving SU a six-point lead with 13:03 remaining in the game. The senior made seven of the Orange’s season-high-tying 12 3-pointers as Syracuse held off Notre Dame, 88-82, in front of 9,113 at the Joyce Center on Wednesday night.

In its first trip outside New York state and its first true road game of the season, Syracuse (14-2, 2-0 Big East) shot at first sight to run its winning streak to 11 games. Told by SU head coach Jim Boeheim to shoot more from the outside after only defeating South Florida by six on Sunday, the Orange hoisted 32 3-pointers against the Irish.

‘To play in this hostile environment without having played a road game in nearly two months is big for our confidence,’ said junior Louie McCroskey.

Despite switching several times between zone and man-to-man defense, Notre Dame (9-5, 0-3) couldn’t prevent the 3-point onslaught. McNamara hit 7-of-16 from the arc to finish with 25 points. Devendorf added two 3-pointers and 22 points in his finest performance of the season. Not to mention forward Demetris Nichols, who made three from downtown for 16 points.

So for the fourth time in four years, all those Irish descendants in McNamara’s hometown of Scranton, Pa., saw their native son carve up their beloved Notre Dame team. McNamara’s legacy at Notre Dame began with a game-winning trey in his freshman year and ended with a difference-making 3-point barrage in his senior season.

But as always, this one wasn’t easy for the Orange.

Notre Dame closed to 85-82 with less than a minute to play, but it was McNamara’s only two-pointer of the night that sealed the deal. With the shot clock winding down, he took Irish guard Kyle McAlarney off the dribble for a right-handed layup with 14.2 seconds left.

‘I spun back to the right for the strong hand and tried to get a shot up there off the glass and I put it up just right and it went down,’ he said.

McNamara’s final performance at the Joyce Center overshadowed Devendorf’s first. Devendorf did not hesitate to take defenders one-on-one multiples times by driving into the lane, drawing fouls. A shooting guard in the purest sense, Devendorf made 8-of-10 from the stripe.

‘Tonight was really the first game that he displayed what he really can do,’ McNamara said. ‘He’s so aggressive going to the basket and he really displayed that tonight. He hasn’t been doing that as much – he’s been shooting a little more than he should. But he’s such a great penetrator and can get to the free throw line.’

The first half was played at a fever pitch as SU made nine 3-pointers (five by McNamara) to Notre Dame’s seven. Despite the high pace, SU committed only two turnovers in taking a 46-41 halftime advantage.

When Notre Dame came out of the locker room firing, McNamara countered. Zone, man-to-man, it didn’t matter.

‘His confidence was just extremely crazy tonight,’ SU forward Terrence Roberts said of McNamara. ‘At the end of the game I was screening for him on that last play. And I looked at him and he was like, ‘No, stay there.’ Then he just drove to the basket.

‘That was just the type of night he was having.’

Published on January 11, 2006 at 12:00 pm