BOSTON, MA (March 21, 2003) - Despite a game-high 22 points from senior
Jared Johnson, the 14th-seeded Manhattan Jaspers fell short of upsetting the third-seeded Syracuse Orangemen, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday evening at the FleetCenter. Manhattan finishes its 2003 campaign with an overall record of 23-7 while Syracuse improves to 25-5.
Manhattan scored the first two baskets of the game on a three-pointer by
Luis Flores and a jumper by Johnson. The lead would change hands five times in the first half before Syracuse made a run. After a jumper by Flores made it 18-17 with 9:41 to go in the half, the Orange went on a 10-2 run to go up 28-19 with just over six minutes remaining. Manhattan rallied back to cut the lead to four heading into the lockerroom. Johnson and Flores combined for 22 of Manhattan's 31 first-half points. Syracuse shot 53.8% in the first 20 minutes and outrebounded the Jaspers 20-9.
The Jaspers fought their way back into it and cut the deficit to one (39-38) in the opening three minutes of the second half. But after a media timeout, the Orange scored the next seven points to take a 46-38 advantage. Manhattan would cut it to three on two occasions but Syracuse made its decisive run at the 11:16 mark, outscoring the Jaspers 9-0 over the next two minutes to take a double-figure lead. Manhattan got no closer than five the rest of the way.
Johnson made 9-13 shots from the floor for 22 points, one shy of his career-high. Flores finished with 20 points and seven assists, while junior
Dave Holmes notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Quotes from Post-game press conference:
HEAD COACH BOBBY GONZALEZ
General Comments:
"I'm proud of the guys to my right, I'm proud of this team. I thought we had a great run, I thought it was a special team. I knew we wouldn't go away quietly, I thought we fought with everything we had. We got out-classed a little bit today by Syracuse. It was very difficult to score against them, which was exactly what I was worried about. We got out-rebounded by 14, they're just a little to big for us on the boards. They held us to 36 percent from the field and 28 percent from the three and they had a lot to do with that. They went to the zone, they contested, they blocked, some of those lay-ups or dunks we would score normally - maybe in a MAAC game or in another game - we just couldn't score them today."
"I thought we made runs. We were down four at halftime. We made runs in the second half. We had an iron will, and if we weren't playing a great team today I think maybe we would've won the game. We were good, but they were very, very good."
On the seniors, Jared Johnson and Justin Jackette:
"I just told Jared and Justin I was proud of them and I love them. We wouldn't be here without them. I told them a couple times I wasn't ready to walk away and I didn't want them to walk away in terms of our season. In other words, I didn't want them to lose in the MAAC Tournament, I didn't want them to lose at the end of the season in the conference final. I told them now I'm ready to let go, to walk away. First round of the NCAA against a great team. I told them now it's okay for us to lose."
On the size of Syracuse:
"We got overwhelmed a little bit. Nine blocked shots is not something we see everyday and everyone of those nine blocked shots would have been baskets. The other thing besides the nine blocked shots is a guy like Billy Edelin comes in off the bench, is a 6'4" point guard and has 15 points, we have no answers for him. We are quick little guys, he was just a tough match-up. They just have a little bit of everything. They have Carmelo when they need it. Our press wasn't as effective. We turn them over 18 times and we wore them down a little bit. But we couldn't get into it and get runs like we normally can because Carmelo is 6'9" and when they want to they clear everyone out and he brought it up. It's kind of like pick your poison, they're a really, really hard team to defend. They're the hardest team we've played against this year to defend."
JUNIOR GUARD LUIS FLORES
General Comments:
"I think that at the beginning of the game we came out hard and throughout the whole game we fought an up hill battle. I think that we came out and played hard. They're just a great team."
On forcing turnovers:
"I think that there were times in the game we felt like we had control of the game. Later on in the second half, we made a run and I thought we were confident, but they took a couple of shots and they got offensive rebounds. That in it self hurt a lot."
On a successful season:
"I think that throughout the whole season we had to battle a lot of different things. For us to end how we did today, it shouldn't signify the season that we had. I think that we had a great season, even though we lost today. We lost to a great team. I strongly believe we had a great season."
SENIOR FORWARD JARED JOHNSON
General comments:
"Coach emphasized coming out early with a lot of emotion and energy and getting on the boards, which we did. It was back and forth early on. Syracuse set into their zone and made it hard for us to get into the flow a little bit."
Turn-around of the Manhattan Program:
"We've been through a lot in four years. Coach turned the program around. Even though we were losing and the game wasn't looking good, in my mind I was happy because we've achieved so much in the last four years. It's kind of hard to look down. As much as I wanted to win, it was a great experience for me."
Syracuse compared to St. John's and Seton Hall:
"The BIG EAST is a physical conference, they all play very strong, and they have great size. I think Syracuse might be a little bit bigger than St. John's and Seton Hall. Which affected us in our rebounding. Syracuse today was the better team."
