SYRACUSE, N.Y. ? The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought 79-73 decision at Syracuse on Wednesday night in the first round of the 2007 MasterCard National Invitation Tournament.  With the loss, the Jaguars finish the season at 20-12.  Syracuse improves to 23-10 on the year and moves on to the second round.

Despite a hostile crowd of 16,832, the Jaguars did not lose their composure as junior Ernest Little had his team-leading eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.  His 18 rebounds were a Carrier Dome record as he topped Patrick Ewing’s 17 rebounds set on Jan. 28, 1985.  Along with the 18 rebounds, Little also had a career-high six blocks on the night.  In addition to Little, the Jaguars were led by 23 points by junior Demetric Bennett on 8 of 15 from the field and he tied his career-high with seven 3-pointers.  Playing in his final game as a Jaguar, senior Carlos Smith had 15 points.

Syracuse had a career-high 34 points from Eric Devendorf who had 18 points in the first half alone.  Demetris Nichols had 15 points and Andy Rautins chipped in 10.

The game began with Syracuse taking the initial lead as it jumped out 10-7 through the first five minutes.  A 15-0 run by the Jaguars put USA up 22-10 with 11:58 left in the half.  

Syracuse countered with a run of its own, going on a 14-1 spurt over the next three minutes to take a 24-23 lead on a dunk by Darryl Watkins with 7:15 left.  Again the Jags answered the run, going back up six points capped with a 3-pointer by Bennett.  The Orange again erased the deficit and went back up 38-34 with 50 seconds left in the half, but a dunk by Little cut the deficit back to two with 29 seconds left. 

Bennett moved up the court with four seconds remaining and hit a shot from just inside half court at the buzzer to put the Jags up 39-38 at half.

For the half, the Jags shot 44.8 percent from the field on 13 of 29.  USA was 6 of 13 from beyond the arc, but struggled from the line shooing just 7 of 13.  Syracuse was 15 of 41 for the half for 36.6 percent and was 5 of 13 from beyond the arc.  The Orange went to the line just four times in the half, making three.  USA held a 27-18 lead in rebounds for the half.

The second half started with Smith hitting a 3-pointer right out of the gate to put USA up four.  Devendorf countered with a trey, but USA went on a 17-9 run over the next eight-plus minutes to build a 59-50 lead with 10:16 left. 

Syracuse began to get the crowd back into the game and proceeded to go on an 18-0 run to build a 68-59 lead with 4:58 left.  The Jaguars would not go away though, as Bennett and Smith connected on 3’s down the stretch. 

The Orange hit seven of their final eight free throws to seal the 79-73 victory.

For the game, USA shot 39.4 percent from the field on 26 of 66.  The Jags went 13 of 30 from beyond the arc and were just 8 of 17 from the line and 1 of 4 in the second half.  Syracuse shot 39.7 percent for the game on 27 of 68 and was 8 of 25 from beyond the arc.  The Orange went 17 of 20 from the charity stripe.  USA won the battle of the boards, 47-30 including 17-13 on the offensive end.