Columbia, Mo. – Gerry McNamara walked out of the Syracuse locker room victorious. With 17 points – including three big 3-pointers in the first half – three assists and two steals, the sophomore guard was instrumental in SU’s win. But before he said anything, McNamara stopped, looked up and praised the unlikeliest of contributors.

‘Craig Forth,’ McNamara said, ‘was the difference in this game.’

Forth, SU’s starting center, scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed four rebounds in front of 13,611 fans at the Hearnes Center in Syracuse’s 82-68 win.

Forth, and Syracuse, faced the most raucous crowd it has seen this season. SU played 11 of its first 12 games at the Carrier Dome before its first trip outside New York this year and was greeted with individualized jeers for each SU starter and decibel levels reaching 106.

‘This is a hostile environment,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘This is as tough a place as I’ve ever been.’

But Forth, whom Syracuse fans booed early last year, kept cool when the crowd got hot. With 4:20 left in the game and Missouri making a run, Forth caught a pass underneath from forward Hakim Warrick and laid it in, giving SU a 12-point lead with his 15th and 16th points.

Then with 3:34 left and Mizzou within eight, 69-61, Forth netted two free throws to give SU a double-digit lead.

‘It was intense from the very beginning of the game,’ Forth said. ‘But we fed off the crowd. I think that really helped us.’

Forth manned the interior of SU’s vaunted 2-3 zone, which has given Big 12 teams trouble since the beginning of last year’s NCAA tournament. Forth held UM center Arthur Johnson, a preseason All-American, to 3-for-8 shooting with bumping and bruising with the 6-foot-9, 255-pounder.

Though the two Mizzou big men – Johnson and freshman Linas Kleiza – grabbed 18 rebounds, Forth performed where SU head coach Jim Boeheim has stressed he needed the center’s to produce: on offense.

‘Of course he was telling me about that,’ Forth said of Boeheim wanting more offense. ‘If he tells you guys that, he’s gotta be telling me that.’

Backup center Jeremy McNeil again struggled with fouls, committing five in just nine minutes. Forth, who played with four fouls for most of the second half, played poised and controlled underneath.

‘It’s luck, man,’ Forth said. ‘I mean, you saw the BC game. I got three crap fouls called on me.’

Forth played pedestrian in the first half, causing Boeheim to bench the junior in favor of McNeil. But when McNeil committed two early fouls, Forth trudged back out to the court, quietly picking up 10 points, tying the team high.

His biggest strength came in his ability to deny the ball down low. McNeil struggled in that area, forcing him to foul and ultimately leave quickly.

‘Craig was good,’ Boeheim said. ‘He didn’t let them get the ball. He kept working hard for position. He just had a tremendous game.

‘This is the best we’ve seen the zone this year. It was a physical game. And Craig did a great job on Johnson down low.’

Forth’s offensive output came in his ability to hit his lay-ups, which has always been an adventure. He constantly found openings in the Tigers’ defense, which double-teamed Warrick every time he touched the ball and occasionally McNamara on the perimeter. Forth exploited the openings the double-teams left, and kept receiving the ball. The difference last night was Forth’s ability to finish. He said it was the best offensive game of his career.

‘Definitely. I actually made some lay-ups today,’ Forth said. ‘I don’t know. Some days it’s on. Some days it’s not. But I’ve been doing well recently, so hopefully that’s a sign.’

Published on January 12, 2004 at 12:00 pm