SYRACUSE, NY – The College of Saint Rose men's basketball squad used some hot shooting from the outside to throw a halftime scare into #5/5 (AP/ESPN) Syracuse before bowing to the Orange by an 87-69 final.

The Golden Knights, who are ranked in the top 20 of three different preseason publications, came out of the gates firing, taking a 4-0 lead just over a minute in on a jumper by sophomore James Wilson and a pair of free throws by junior point guard Andre Pope. Syracuse tallied their first points of the match on a Scoop Jardine layup at the 18:38 mark. Those initial points sparked the Orange on a 19-2 run over the next 6:08 as SU took a 19-6 lead.

Undeterred, Saint Rose battled back as sophomore center Dominykas Milka scored eight of the next 13 Golden Knights' points to help Saint Rose close the gap to 26-19 with 6:44 remaining in the opening stanza. After the two teams traded baskets, the Golden Knights used some hot long range shooting to close out the half. A pair of 3's by Pope bookended a trey from senior Sheldon Griffin, igniting a 9-2 Saint Rose run to close out the half and tie the game at 30-30.

Continuing where they left off to end the first half, the Golden Knights came out of the locker room strong as a bucket from senior forward Brian Hanuschak and a pair of hoops from preseason All-American Rob Gutierrez gave Saint Rose a 37-34 lead with 17:10 remaining.

The two teams then jumped on the seesaw for the next few minutes. A Gutierrez three pushed the Golden Knights on top 40-38 with 15:28 to play. That was the last time Saint Rose would enjoy the lead, however, as staring with a three-pointer from C. J. Fair Syracuse would go on a 24-6 run to take a 62-46 lead with 10:09 remaining. The Orange would extend the lead to as many as 22 points on a couple of occasions before finishing off the win.

Both teams shot well overall with Syracuse converting 50% of their baskets (34-for-68) while Saint Rose hit on 26 out of 56 shots for a 46.4 field goal percentage. The Golden Knights also hit on five of their 12 three-pointers in the game, but were hurt by 27 turnovers.

Saint Rose was led by Milka and Pope who tallied 14 points apiece. Pope also dished out a team-high five assists. Hanuschak grabbed nine rebounds to pace the Golden Knights while Milka pulled home eight caroms. Also making solid contributions for the Golden Knights were Gutierrez (nine points) and freshman Chris Dorgler who scored eight points while hitting on all four of his field goal attempts. Freshman Travis Gill chipped in with five points to go along with four rebounds and four assists.

Saint Rose opens up their regular season on Saturday, November 12 at 8 p.m. against Concordia as the Golden Knights host the Saint Rose Tip-Off Tournament presented by the Hilton Garden Inn – Albany Medical Center. Syracuse also gets their regular season underway on Saturday with a 4 p.m. tilt against Fordham.

Box Score