Syracuse escapes with win over St. Francis Brooklyn

THE ORANGE nearly turned red in embarrassment.

Jerami Grant scored 13 points, including a tying follow with 1:43 left, and set up the go-ahead basket by Michael Gbinije in the final minute, as No. 9 Syracuse held off visiting St. Francis Brooklyn, 56-50, last night in an opening-round game of the Maui Invitational held at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse (4-0), making its first appearance in the tournament since winning it in 1998, plays its next game in Hawaii in a week against Minnesota.

The Orange closed the game on a 10-0 run, holding St. Francis scoreless for the final 4:10.

Syracuse's last nonconference home loss was to Cleveland State on Dec. 15, 2008. In that one, Cedric Jackson took an inbounds pass with 2.2 seconds left, turned and swished a two-handed, 60-foot shot at the buzzer to give the Vikings a shocking, 72-69 victory over the 11th-ranked Orange.

The Orange were in trouble in this one until the final 3 minutes as its top scorer struggled mightily. C.J. Fair, who came in shooting 53.3 percent and averaging 21.7 points, couldn't buy a basket, going 2-for-13, all but one of his attempts coming from close range.

But with the game on the line and time winding down, the ball was in Fair's hands. He drove to the basket, missed at the rim and Grant was there to convert it to tie the game at 50-all. Grant then stole the ball and fed Gbinije for the decisive basket with 65 seconds left.

Dajuan Coleman matched his career high with 14 points and Trevor Cooney had 12 for Syracuse.

Jalen Cannon led the Terriers (2-2) with 16 points and Anthony White had 10.

* At Michigan State, Keith Appling matched a career high with 25 points to help the No. 1 Spartans (4-0) pull away to beat Portland, 82-67.

* At Duke, Jabari Parker had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and the No. 6 Blue Devils (3-1) beat UNC Asheville, 91-55, in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

* At Florida, the No. 16 Gators (3-1) lost point guard Kasey Hill to a sprained left ankle in a 67-53 victory against Southern. He will be evaluated today.

* At Arizona, Ashley made the most of it, scoring 20 points while hitting all six of his shots and grabbing 10 rebounds to help the No. 10 Wildcats (3-0) run over Long Beach State, 94-72 in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

* Michigan State is No. 1 in the Associated Press' poll for the first time in 13 years, earning the top spot by beating then-No. 1 Kentucky last week in the Champions Classic doubleheader in Chicago.

Kansas, which beat Duke in the other game in the doubleheader last week, moved from No. 5 to No. 2. Louisville stayed third; Kentucky dropped to fourth and was followed by Arizona, Duke, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Syracuse and VCU.

Connecticut remained No. 1 in the women's poll after easily sweeping three Top 25 teams last week: Stanford, Maryland and Penn State.

* Saint Joseph's signed four players to national letters of intent: James Demery, Markell Lodge, Shavar Newkirk and Obi Romeo. Demery is a 6-6 wing player from Charlotte, N.C. (Northside Christian Academy); Logan is a 6-7 wing player from Carrboro, N.C. (Pace Academy); Newkirk is a 6-foot point guard from the Bronx (Cardinal Hayes High); and Romeo is a 6-10 forward who is originally from Nigeria and has attended Greenbrier East High in West Virginia the past 3 years.

In another matter, freshman DeAndre' Bembry was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the week ending Nov. 17. He averaged 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists as the Hawks went 1-1 on the week.

* The NCAA Final Four will air on TBS on April 5, but TNT will offer coverage from the perspective of one of the teams for each matchup, and truTV the other. Turner Sports said the broadcasts will have separate commentator crews and additional camera angles. The championship game will remain on CBS.