Last year, when Syracuse squeaked by Division II Bryant (R.I.), 92-86, in its first preseason game, SU head coach Jim Boeheim’s starting lineup contained three seniors.

So at least Sunday afternoon, when SU again looked shaky in its preseason opening victory against D-II St. Rose (N.Y.), the Syracuse men’s basketball head coach had an excuse built in.

Relying heavily on four of his freshmen and juco transfer Kristof Ongenaet, Boeheim’s inexperienced Orange found itself behind by one with less than six minutes to go, but managed to gut out an 80-71 victory over St. Rose Sunday in front of 8,089 fans at the Carrier Dome.

It was by no means a perfectly scripted debut for the Orange newcomers, who showed flashes of potential before eventually deferring to the returning SU players to secure victory down the stretch.

‘These guys, we just – I just have to be patient and realize that they’re going to make mistakes,’ Boeheim said after the game. ‘It’s going to take time for us to develop to where we need to be.’

Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn, the Big East preseason co-rookies of the year, started for Syracuse, Flynn in place of senior Josh Wright, who sat out the game with an ankle injury. Boeheim frequently utilized lineups with three or four of SU’s new players at the same time, as only freshman center Sean Williams did not see playing time.

On the score sheet, nearly all the freshmen had a satisfactory night. Greene tied for the team lead in scoring with 16 points, all of which came in a dazzling first half performance that included three 3-pointers. Flynn contributed seven points and nine assists, while freshman Rick Jackson added a workmanlike six points and seven rebounds.

Yet as a unit, there were obvious periods of disconnect on the court for SU. The Orange’s inexperience showed throughout the game, especially in the turnover department. SU turned the ball over 21 times – six more than the 15 per game it averaged last year – leading to 26 St. Rose points off turnovers.

On defense, Syracuse often used a man-to-man set over Boeheim’s traditionally favored 2-3 zone and allowed St. Rose to penetrate and utilize its quick passing game to create shots.

‘I just don’t think we took our defensive mentality very seriously,’ Flynn said. ‘We just thought we were going to score, we’re going to do this. We didn’t go in with a defensive attitude.’

The turnovers and St. Rose’s ability to create open looks helped keep the visitors in the game despite SU shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and out-rebounding the smaller Golden Knights, 49-31.

A 12-0 St. Rose run at the end of the first half, capped by an uncontested Jermaine Clark layup after the Orange failed to get back on defense cut the SU lead to 39-36 at halftime.

Late in the second half, a Shanty Robinson jumper culminated a 15-4 run to give St. Rose a 63-62 lead with 5:40 remaining.

From there, it was the SU upperclassmen who took over what was supposed to be the freshmen’s night. With the injured Wright urging the crowd on from the bench, Syracuse retook the lead via an Eric Devendorf four-point play on the following possession.

Flynn penetrated through the lane and dished to Devendorf on the far side of the court, who knocked down the three as he was fouled on his follow through by Robinson.

‘I feel comfortable with the freshmen having the ball in their hands because they can make plays, too, but at the end of the game, I’m gonna be the guy you try to go to,’ Devendorf said.

Devendorf and Syracuse sophomores Paul Harris and Arinze Onuaku scored 18 of the Orange’s final 20 points. Both Harris and Onuaku recorded double-doubles, Harris with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Onuaku with 10 of each.

‘There’s no question that our freshman are good and can help us and they will help us, but Arinze and Eric and Paul, they’ve got to be solid for us, there’s no question about it,’ Boeheim said. ‘They [ITALICS] have [ITALICS] to be solid.’

Despite the struggle, Boeheim found plenty of reasons after the game to be pleased with his young team’s performance. The contest was a chance for his young team to face some in-game adversity early on.

It was also a performance Boeheim knows his team will have to improve on before the games start to count.

‘We’ve got a lot of work ahead,’ Boeheim said. ‘And these early games, these non-conference games, every game is going to be a lesson out there, and some things are not going to be pleasant lessons but that’s what’s going to happen. We’ve got a long way to go.’

Published on November 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm