Syracuse men’s basketball rolls over Le Moyne in exhibition game

While Le Moyne had to travel only three miles across town to play Syracuse in the Carrier Dome Wednesday night, the distance between the two programs is much greater.

The Orange beat the Dolphins 89-52 on Halloween night in their last exhibition game before next Tuesday’s regular season opener.

SU had a slow start as Le Moyne jumped out to an early 9-2 lead. Eventually, the Orange made it to a 22-18 lead when sophomore forward Oshae Brissett hit a three to put Cuse up 25-18 with nine minutes left in first half.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s squad didn’t look back, finishing the half on a 28-12 run.

“These two games have been good for us because we’ve had an opportunity,” Boeheim said referencing his team’s second exhibition win this past week.

With guards Jalen Carey and Frank Howard sidelined due to ankle injuries, Elijah Hughes started once again, following up his 19-point performance against St. Rose last week with a 21-point game tonight against the Dolphins. The East Carolina transfer went 7 of 9 from the floor in his second game in an Orange uniform.

“Elijah can shoot the ball,” Boeheim said. “We know that. Tonight he was outstanding,”

Tyus Battle struggled, to say the least, in the exhibition against St. Rose last week, as the third team preseason all-American shot only 1 for 10. While he wasn’t his dominant self tonight, Battle did bounce back, scoring 13 points on 4 for 7 shooting.

“Oh yeah, I felt a lot better tonight,” Battle said. “Saw some shots go in tonight, which is good. I wasn’t worried about the last game at all. I mean, it happens. I know that I’m going to continue to prove what I can do.”

Buddy Boeheim was once again a big storyline, as the coach’s son scored 13 points and shot 3 for 5 from three-point range. He started both exhibition games at shooting guard.

“He made a couple of mistakes early, but he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Jim Boeheim said. “He’s playing hard.”

As Boeheim looks ahead to Tuesday’s match against Eastern Washington in the Carrier Dome, he’ll be monitoring Howard and Casey’s conditions and availability for the season opener lineup.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen at point guard next week,” he said. “We’ll see how the health of the point guard is over the next few days. We’ll see who is ready next week.”