It was a fast start for the Syracuse Golden Eagles in Buffalo as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the Niagara Purple Eagles, but the Golden Eagles couldn’t put their foot in the choke as they ended the season with a win.
Syracuse’s minor league started this afternoon with Ryan Moesch, Garway Dual, Gavin Doty, Mark Morano and Luke Wilson. That group with Amarri Monroe saw the most minutes in the game, in which Gerry McNamara used his bench liberally.
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Doty and Wilson led the Orange with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Doty added 14 rebounds while Moesch had 9 points and 6 assists. Logan Woods had 12 to lead Niagara.
Syracuse held the rebound much better on the glass than 43-24 in this one. Without Aidan Tobiason, the Orange offense didn’t inspire much confidence heading into the season. Syracuse finished the game shooting 44.8% from the field and just 6-25 from beyond the arc.
Even playing the bench early in the morning, Syracuse Niagara got back into the game in the first half. The Orange had a 17-point lead cut to 33-26 at the break. If not for some free throws in the last two minutes, the two teams would have been close in the second half.
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The difference in this one was on the inside, as Syracuse enjoyed a 36-18 advantage in points and a 13-2 margin in second chance points. In addition to throwing a poor 3, Syracuse committed 14 turnovers against the Purple Eagles.
Kiyan Anthony wasn’t the only player to go 0-4 in this one. Anthony, Sadiq White and Francis Folefac all head into the regular season with undefined roles on this squad as Monroe and Moesch look poised to pass everyone in the rotation.
Golden will open the regular season on Nov. 2 against Newport.
Sam will have a lot more from Buffalo tomorrow but what do you think about this one?