Dec. 28, 2004 – Though Gerry McNamara didn’t have his golden shooting touch last night, he continued to heave the ball from outside the 3-point arc all night. Granted, some of them were passes.

Last night in the Carrier Dome against Albany, McNamara, a guard, hit just 2 of 9 field-goal attempts – all of which were 3-pointers – finishing with six points. Despite his shooting struggles, McNamara managed to rack up nine assists in last night’s 72-55 win over the Great Danes.

Three of McNamara’s assists came on long-distance alley-oops to senior Hakim Warrick, who kept the crowd roaring with his thunderous dunks en route a 19-point effort.

‘When I’m not shooting well,’ McNamara said, ‘I still have to play within the offense.’

McNamara, who had the worst shooting night of any Orange, understood this all too well.

‘I have to get in the lane more,’ McNamara said. ‘I took all 3s. I can’t be doing that.’

Still, McNamara’s passing helped jumpstart the Orange’s struggling offensive output, especially during the first half, when he had eight assists.

‘He should have had 12 assists,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We just had too many turnovers and were sloppy on offense.’

It’s the same thing that has hurt the Orange (12-1) all season long, Boeheim said. Whereas the team’s defense has improved, it’s offense hasn’t.

‘Our defense was good tonight,’ Boeheim said. ‘We were fortunate our defense was good enough to keep us in there.’

Where McNamara sputtered, so did Albany. The Great Danes (4-5), who were shooting an amazing 47.6 percent from beyond the arc heading into last night’s game, hit just six 3-pointers on 25 attempts.

‘They have a very good shooting team,’ sophomore Terrence Roberts said. ‘They just didn’t hit a lot of shots.’

Sophomore Demetris Nichols played in his first game since being sidelined with a sore back. He shot 2-for-5 from 3-point range. With 9:44 remaining in the second half, Nichols caught fire, scoring nine points in less than a minute.

‘He gave us a real spark,’ Warrick said, ‘which was something we needed.’

After driving through the lane for a lay-up, Nichols stole the ball and jumped from inside the foul line to hit a fully extended finger-roll that just barely reached the rim. A few possessions later, Warrick saw an open Nichols on the far side of the court.

‘If he gets that open shot, he’s going to knock it down,’ Roberts said.

And, of course, Nichols did.

‘It feels good to be back on the team,’ Nichols said. ‘I’m not worried about the starting lineup. I’m back playing again.’

But with Nichols’ return, came another exit. Sophomore center Darryl Watkins sat out the entire second half after injuring his thumb. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday.

‘It looks like we’re going to lose Mookie,’ Boeheim said. ‘That loss will be huge.’

Boeheim and his players are aware that they can – and must – play much better.

‘Our record is pretty good,’ Boeheim said. ‘But offensively, we need to get more consistent.’

Published on December 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm