Gerry McNamara had enough. During the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s week-long layoff, McNamara had practiced his 3-point shooting to stay in rhythm.

His 1-for-6 shooting first half, like the play of his entire team, was unacceptable. Not in front of the largest on-campus crowd in college basketball history. Not in front of 50-plus busloads of loyal Scrantonites, who had made their yearly pilgrimage to the Carrier Dome to cheer on their native son.

With the record-setting crowd of 33,199 roaring to open the second half, McNamara swept behind senior forward Hakim Warrick and finally found his opening. Warrick handed the ball off. Splash. Nothing but net.

As he ran back down court, McNamara viciously slapped the media table, showing his frustration. The emotional display was one of many shown by the Orange on Saturday night during its second-half comeback. SU came from 11 points down with 5:50 remaining, to defeat Notre Dame, 60-57, at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

‘It was just frustration,’ McNamara said. ‘I worked extremely hard to stay in rhythm. I worked extremely hard to keep going. I hope I didn’t hurt anyone’

McNamara hurt no one on press row. He inflicted all his pain on Notre Dame. He scored a game-high 22 points, teaming with Warrick to lead SU’s second comeback win in three games. Unlike when the Orange came from 18 down at the half to defeat Rutgers on Jan. 24, the Orange trailed by just six at the break Saturday.

Also unlike the game at Rutgers, SU’s comeback came painfully slow, unlike the ferocious come-from-behind victory at Rutgers.

McNamara finally capped the comeback with three free throws with 1:40 left on the clock, giving the Orange a lead it would never relinquish. It was Syracuse’s first lead since it was up 3-2 at the 16:31 mark of the first half.

In front of throngs of home-town faithful, McNamara calmly sank all 11 of his free-throw attempts. Nine of those came with less than 3:30 to play, sealing SU’s victory.

‘I’m more confident with (McNamara), than anyone on any other team I’ve ever played on,’ Warrick said. ‘He’s just so clutch.’

Even with McNamara’s shooting, Notre Dame senior guard Chris Thomas was inches from sending the game to overtime. His half-court heave with less than a second remaining, nearly banked in to tie the game.

‘I grabbed Hop (Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins) and said, ‘are you kidding me?” McNamara said. ‘You don’t want to put yourself in that situation.’

After the first half Syracuse played, it was lucky to be in position to win at all. Even with the crowd screaming and waving its orange ‘Break the Record towels,’ SU played flat.

McNamara had open looks, but missed. The team passed to Warrick and watched him attempt to dance his way through the lane. Fortunately for SU, Notre Dame wasn’t much better. The Orange managed just 20 points and trailed at the break, 26-20.

‘We knew we had played one of the worst halves of Syracuse basketball in history,’ McNamara said.

Initially, the second half wasn’t much better. Even with McNamara’s big shot to open the half, SU struggled to gain consistency. Finally, and perhaps inevitably, the switch from man to zone came. As did SU’s full-court press.

With 5:50 left, a Warrick dunk cut Notre Dame’s lead to 50-41. After two Warrick free throws, SU again set up the press. Sophomore Terrence Roberts caused a turnover and fed Warrick. The senior again slammed it home, igniting the crowd to its peak.

On SU’s next possession, McNamara drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key, cutting the lead to two. After a five-second violation on the Irish, the Notre Dame bench received a technical foul. Roberts charged to SU’s bench, hands high in the air, again sending the crowd into a frenzy.

McNamara hit the two free throws, finally drawing SU even at 50. McNamara’s 3 with 4:07 remaining was SU’s last field goal of the game. The Orange didn’t need the field goals with McNamara’s foul shooting.

With each of McNamara’s makes, the crowd roared. Satisfaction for the work he put in. Nearly an hour after the game, much of the crowd remained, still cheering in the background of ESPN GameDay. A perfect ending to a record-setting night it seemed. A night that without McNamara may have ended bitterly for the Orange.

‘I’ve never been part of anything like this,’ McNamara said. ‘When they announced the crowd during a timeout, Hakim was saying to me how he got the chills. The sad thing is we were down.’

Published on February 5, 2005 at 12:00 pm