Girard Guides Orange Past Big Red

A 19-point outing from Joseph Girard III sent Syracuse to a 78-63 victory versus longtime in-state foe Cornell. The Orange improved to 7-4 and the Big Red moved to 7-3.
 
Jesse Edward logged his sixth double-double of the season by contributing 11 points and 12 rebounds. Judah Mintz (14 points), Chris Bell (13), and Benny Williams (12) completed the Orange performers that finished the day in double-figures. 
 
WHEN THE GAME WAS DECIDED
Bell and Girard opened up the first 60 seconds of the second stanza by netting the first four points, making it a 41-37 game, to give Syracuse its advantage for good. The lead ballooned as high as 20 points in the second half. 

THE GIRARD SHOW

Late in the first frame, Syracuse logged seven unanswered points, which put the Orange within four points of Cornell’s 25-21 lead with just 7:02 left on the clock. Girard put up seven points within the stretch and assisted on a layup from Mailq Brown.

 

With just 34 seconds left before halftime, Girard stepped up with a big three-pointer to narrow the Orange deficit to one point, 37-36. SU’s defense forced a shot clock violation for Cornell on its next hold. The Big Red’s Marcus Filien sent Bell to the line, whose make knotted things up 37-37, with just nine seconds left. Cornell failed to answer during its final possession, sending the game into the break with a tie. 

 

ORANGE STEP UP

Over the first 10 minutes after the break, SU held the visiting Cornell squad…