On the bench, teammates jolted out of their chairs before Andy Rautins even pulled the trigger. Again and again. No need to wait. Their hobbled leader was on fire.

‘He’s a warrior,’ freshman Brandon Triche said. ‘He’s tough, man.’

Two days prior, Rautins left Syracuse’s season-opener without any points and with a scary ankle injury. On Wednesday, Rautins administered a shooting clinic in SU’s painless 100-60 win over Robert Morris. The senior scored 22 points behind a sizzling 7-of-10 behind the arc in only 20 minutes of action.

Next up for Syracuse (2-0) is California in the semifinal round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden.

After the game, Rautins sat at his locker barefooted. Sipping on a Muscle Milk, he finally let that ankle breathe. This was his decision. Head coach Jim Boeheim and trainer Brad Pike let Rautins make the call. After hours of treatment and contemplating, Rautins decided a couple hours before tipoff to play.

It would have been easy for Rautins to take a detour. Pass on Robert Morris, soak in eight days of rest and be fresh for MSG. But not this year. Not in this role.

‘I really wanted to be out there for my teammates,’ Rautins said. ‘I feel a responsibility to be a leader out there.’

From the opening tip, Rautins wasn’t gun shy. He was 0-for-6 in Syracuse’s season-opener. Didn’t matter. The daggers came from the corner, the wing, the top of the key, wherever he could find a soft spot to launch.

His two 3’s in the final four minutes of the first half silenced a brief scare by Robert Morris. After the Colonials cut the deficit to 39-29 on a half-hearted inbounds pass, Rautins drained a 3-pointer out of a timeout. Moments later, he drilled another in-rhythm 3 to give Syracuse a 53-32 edge.

Rautins turned, clenched his fists and screamed in elation. Adrenaline served as extra ibuprofen.

‘The first couple minutes, I didn’t realize I was injured at all,’ Rautins said. ‘It started to feel progressively better.’

Boeheim didn’t plan on playing Rautins too much. But after a while, he didn’t have a choice.

‘I thought we’d give him a few minutes and see what would happen,’ Boeheim said. ‘But he came out very confident.’

Quite a turnaround from Monday. After Syracuse’s 75-43 win over Albany, the prognosis seemed dim at best. Early in the second half, Rautins crashed hard on another player’s foot and limped to the locker room.

From there, he could only do one thing.

‘A lot of ice,’ he said.

From the moment Monday’s game ended to Wednesday’s opening tip, Rautins estimates that he had at least eight different treatments on his ankle. He woke up Wednesday morning at 8:30, got treatment, lugged to class with his protective boot on, got more treatment, shot around a bit and waited.

With Rautins’ status a mystery, Brandon Triche worked at two-guard. Rautins wasn’t even on the court Tuesday. So even when Triche saw the senior dressed before the game, he figured he’d be starting at shooting guard.

Rautins decided to play, got one of his four steals and the energy was contagious.

‘He makes you want to play defense,’ Triche said. ‘He’s getting steals, he’s getting his hands on the ball, and you want to do the same thing.’

Much like Monday, Syracuse’s offense started with the defense. The Orange’s 2-3 zone suffocated Robert Morris at every crevice. Robert Morris had 28 turnovers, which resulted in a circus of alley-oops and Rautins 3’s. Five SU players scored in double-figures.

Rautins was quick to credit point guards Scoop Jardine and Triche, who combined for 16 assists. Both located Rautins from all angles of the court. Man or zone, the Colonials never found the antidote.

‘If (Jardine and Triche) continue to play like they do, we’ll be a tough team to beat,’ Rautins said.

Still, Rautins knows this is not time to decompress, not time to settle. With MSG looming, the prop-and-ice routine must continue. After doing interviews after the game, Rautins headed back for more treatment.

His ankle is sore. But seven 3-pointers after the fact, there’s no debate. Rautins made the right call.

‘I wanted to at least give it a shot,’ Rautins said. ‘The adrenaline took over and the guys got me fired up. It was a good decision.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on November 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm