Unbeaten Syracuse drops Drexel

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - This time, the Big East Conference team played big against the Drexel men's basketball team.

No. 5 Syracuse used a 15-2 run in the first half to pull away from the Dragons (8-2) and the Orange coasted to a 93-65 victory Wednesday night before 17,856 fans at the Carrier Dome. Philadelphia natives Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson, both products of Neumann-Goretti High School, led the way for Syracuse (13-0).

Jardine scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting with five assists, while Jackson added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Syracuse's Kris Joseph led all scorers with a career-high 25 points.

The loss snapped Drexel's six-game winning streak, which included a stunning 52-46 victory at then-No. 20 Louisville on Dec. 14. In that game, the Dragons outrebounded the Cardinals by 46-26 and limited Big East member Louisville to two fastbreak points.

But on Wednesday, the Orange outrebounded Drexel, 38-27, and by midway through the second half had scored 12 fastbreak points to zero for the Dragons. Drexel entered the game outrebounding its opponents by 14.2 boards per game.

Syracuse, after missing six of its first seven shots, sank 27 of its next 35, including 18 of its first 20 in the second half. The Orange shot 64 percent (35 of 55) for the game.

Gerald Colds paced Drexel with 16 points, while Chris Fouch added 14. Samme Givens fouled out with 4 minutes, 20 seconds remaining after scoring eight points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.

Colds' second three-pointer in the first seven minutes of the game gave the Dragons their last lead, 10-8. For the next 7:15, Drexel managed just one field goal - a Fouch layup - while the Orange went on that 15-2 run to build a 23-12 lead.

Six Syracuse players scored during that spurt. Jardine (11 points, two assists) and Jackson (seven points, five rebounds, four blocks) led the Orange's first-half attack.

Jardine and Jackson were at it again to start the second half. Jardine's layup and Jackson's monster dunk on fastbreaks increased the Orange's lead to 41-24 less than two minutes into the half. Joseph's layup on a fastbreak finished a 20-7 SU spurt that boosted the Orange's lead to 55-31.

Syracuse guard Dion Waiters, who's also from Philadelphia and went to Life Center Academy in Burlington, N.J., scored eight points in 13 minutes.

The Dragons' next game is against Niagara at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It's the Dragons' last game before their Colonial Athletic Conference season opener against Hofstra Jan. 3 at home.