Christmas Leads Orange Past Crusaders

Friday, November 28

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

(5-1)

Holy Cross

(3-1)

Team	1	2	F
Holy Cross	17	31	48
Syracuse	39	33	72

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

11/28/2014 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Rakeem Christmas was 8-for-10 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the free throw line.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Senior Rakeem Christmas scored a career-high 25 points and freshman Chris McCullough posted his second career double-double to lead Syracuse to a 72-48 victory over Holy Cross on Friday, Nov. 28. The victory was the third straight for the Orange, which improved its record to 5-1 this season, while the Crusaders (3-1) suffered their first defeat.

Syracuse shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56) from the field and was 20-for-25 (80 percent) from the free-throw line. Christmas hit eight of his 10 field goal attempts and was 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Christmas and McCullough helped the Orange to a 42-16 advantage in points in the paint.

McCullough and fellow freshman Kaleb Joseph both finished with 14 points. It was a career high for Joseph. McCullough grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds and the Orange finished with a 50-29 advantage on the boards.

Christmas scored Syracuse's first six points of the game, but a three-point play by Taylor Abt gave Holy Cross (3-1) a 7-6 lead with 13:54 on the clock. B.J. Johnson drove to the basket from outside the three-point line for a slam dunk for two of his six points, which gave the Orange the lead for good. Johnson's bucket sparked Syracuse on a 12-2 scoring run that gave SU a 20-9 advantage at the 6:32 mark. Seven different players scored for the Orange during the offensive outburst.

Syracuse continued to extend its lead and Joseph's layup with 51 seconds remaining in the opening half gave the Orange a 39-17 lead heading into the locker room at intermission. Christmas was 5-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free throw line for 14 first-half points. Overall, Syracuse shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-for-31) and was 9-for-9 from the free throw line as it recorded its highest first-half point total this season.

The Crusaders opened the second half with four consecutive points, but a free throw by Christmas put the Orange up by 20 with 17:22 remaining. Holy Cross responded with an 11-2 scoring run started by a Malcolm Miller dunk that cut Syracuse's advantage to 11, 46-35, at the 13:08 mark. That was as close as the Crusaders would get. Aided by six straight points by Christmas, the Orange continued to extend its advantage. Michael Gbinije's steal and slam dunk gave the Orange its largest lead of the night, at 24, and the Orange recorded the 72-48 victory.

Joseph finished with six assists and a season-best seven rebounds, while Christmas pulled down eight rebounds to go along with three blocks and two assists. Miller led Holy Cross with 18 points.

Syracuse hits the road for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when it takes on Michigan in Ann Arbor. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.