WASHINGTON – Nevermind that he had missed his last eight shots. Nevermind the cramps that had shot through his legs and toes during the game’s final minutes. And nevermind the two defenders charging at him.

When Jonny Flynn released his desperation heave in overtime Monday night with Syracuse down by two to Georgetown, he could have sworn his team had won.

‘When it left my hands I thought it was good,’ Flynn said. ‘When I saw it rim in, I thought it was going to rim into the hole.’

Flynn’s effort rimmed out, and Syracuse fell just short of upsetting No. 9 Georgetown, 64-62, in front of 20,035 at the Verizon Center. Syracuse’s undoing during the final minutes and overtime came on the offensive end.

SU (13-7, 3-4 Big East) failed to register a single field goal in overtime and scored just seven combined points during the final 10 minutes of the contest- the final five minutes of regulation plus overtime.

It was a sour ending to a game that for much of the second half looked like it would provide the Orange a marquee win for its resume come tournament time.

‘I think we got a tremendous effort tonight,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We made a couple mistakes, and we can’t make them on the road in that situation. But we competed hard, we rebounded, our defense was good – the best we’ve played on the road all year.’

Despite Syracuse’s anemic showing on the offensive end in crunch time, Flynn still had his chance at glory with 10.8 seconds left thanks to a stingy SU defense that allowed just four points in overtime.

Flynn took the ball off the inbounds in the backcourt and dribbled to the right side, coming off a pick set by Arinze Onuaku. Facing a double-team, Flynn, a 6-foot-0 guard, forced up a tough shot that bounced in and out of the cylinder, and the Orange was denied what would have been a signature victory.

‘We tried to get Donte (Greene) the ball off the inbounds, and we couldn’t get it to him,’ Boeheim said. ‘Next was to get it to Jonny and see if he could get something off the pick or stop and take the 3. I liked the shot.’

The shot was Flynn’s eighth straight miss – a cold streak that tarnished what had been another stellar night for Flynn. He finished with 24 points on 9-of-23 shooting, his third straight game with at least 23 points. Meanwhile, Jonathan Wallace and Roy Hibbert each led the way in scoring for the Hoyas with 15 apiece.

But Flynn wasn’t the only one who struggled at times for Syracuse. Greene had an especially frustrating night from the floor, finishing with 15 points on 5-of 19 shooting, including a 1-for-12 first half performance.

Yet despite struggling on offense in the first half (SU shot 37.9 percent), the Orange came storming out of the gates in the second half. By the 4:34 mark of the frame, Syracuse had turned a 36-29 halftime deficit into a seven-point lead, 58-51.

But inexperience began to show, and from there Syracuse shot just 1-of-11 from the field, its only basket a short jump shot by Greene. He also committed six of Syracuse’s 13 turnovers, three of those coming in crunch time for Syracuse.

And while the Orange continually shot itself in the foot, Georgetown (15-2, 5-1) capitalized on Syracuse’s mistakes with a furious 9-2 run over the final 4:34 of the half.

Georgetown head coach John Thompson III credited defense for his team’s comeback.

‘Them not making a field goal, they’re too good of an offensive team to play somebody and stop them from making a field goal,’ Thompson said. ‘…That being said, they missed some shots that they normally would make.’

Both teams had cracks before the end of regulation – Flynn missed two mid-range jumpers – but neither could score.

In overtime, the offensive woes spread to the free-throw line. The Orange shot just 2-of-7 from the free-throw line, including an 0-for-4 effort from Onauku, who finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The struggles were such that four points in the overtime period from the Hoyas – two free throws from guard Jessie Sapp and a jumper from Hibbert – were enough to quell the Orange’s upset bid.

‘It hurts,’ Flynn said. ‘We were up the majority of the second half. … When we went into overtime it was basically like losing the game. We don’t play a lot of guys, so any overtime game it’s going to be a gruesome experience.’

Published on January 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm