http://www.cleveland.com/sports/csu/..._syracuse.html
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Cedric Jackson quickly considered the two seconds remaining in Monday's game at the Carrier Dome and reacted the only way he could.
The Cleveland State guard caught an inbounds pass from teammate J'Nathan Bullock and heaved it toward the rim some 60 feet away.
"Normally those types of shots don't really go in," Jackson said. "So I just threw up a prayer shot and luckily it just went in."
The shot, a rainbow of an offering that traveled so far that everyone who watched it seemed trapped in a brief time warp, drove a dagger into Syracuse and lifted Cleveland State to a 72-69 win over the No. 11 Orange.
Jackson launched that prayer of a shot from his chest, so deep was the distance. He watched as it sailed toward the rim, and scurried to his left to get a better look. When it rattled inside the iron and fell through, he raced toward his delirious teammates, arms raised to accept their embrace.
Syracuse players, meanwhile, stood stunned by the insanity of the moment.
Two seconds earlier, the Orange had tied the game at 69 on an Arinze Onuaku rebound bucket. Two seconds earlier, the game seemed destined for overtime.
But Jackson somehow defied the sternest of odds. He and his coach, Gary Waters, summoned Divine intervention to explain the phenomenon. Nobody considered it anything less than splendid fortune.
"I was just blown away," Jackson said. "I'm still overwhelmed by it. I'm just lost for words."
The Orange men shared his forced silence. SU players, who had just lost their first game of the season in spectacular SportsCenter highlight fashion, trudged toward their locker room to try to make sense of what happened.
"I just saw a guy make an unbelievable shot," said SU forward Kristof Ongenaet. "I was just in disbelief. I wasn't even thinking of him making it. It was farther than three-quarters of the court. I was already thinking about overtime."
"It was just like somebody was carrying it to the rim," SU forward Paul Harris said.
"I was kind of lined up with the basket," said guard Jonny Flynn, "so when I see the flight of the ball, I'm just praying, I'm just hoping that it don't go in. When it went in, I just walked off the court. It just hurts to lose like this."
What hurt the Orange more was the way it happened.
Syracuse trailed, 64-59, after D'Aundray Brown converted a layup with 2:30 left to silence the Dome crowd of 15,416. But the Orange clawed back. Eric Devendorf sank his fifth 3-pointer of the night to get SU within 64-62. Bullock, the muscular 6-foot-5 forward who scored all 18 of his points in the second half, then banked in a 12-footer to increase Cleveland State's lead to 66-62.
Harris countered with a flip shot in the lane on a pass from Flynn.
Then, in the span of five seconds, Bulluck and Flynn traded clutch 3-pointers.
In all that excitement, the CSU lead was 69-67 with 22 seconds left. Cleveland State called time out, which enabled SU to set up its press. After the break, Flynn flung his body at a pass aimed toward Jackson. The ball squirted out of bounds and SU had possession with 15 seconds left.
Eventually, the ball swung to a wide-open Andy Rautins in the corner.
Rautins took aim and fired. The ball bounded off the back iron, but Arinze Onuaku corralled it and laid it in to tie it at 69.
"The shot went off from the corner and I just tried to get on the opposite side, because usually when there's a miss [the rebound's] on the opposite side," Onuaku said. "When I laid it in, I was thinking overtime."
So was everybody else. CSU coach Gary Waters said as soon as Onuaku scored that tying basket, he turned to his assistant and told him to prepare for OT. He never saw Jackson's shot.
Jackson said before he caught the inbounds pass, he glanced up at the clock to note the time remaining. When he caught the ball, he noticed Harris backing away from him and just let the ball fly.
"It was a long shot," Harris said. "I mean, I didn't want to be too close up on him and then foul him or some stupid stuff. So I gave him a little bit of space. I mean if he hit it, more power to him. He made it.
"It was a good shot."
The shot dropped SU's record to 9-1. Cleveland State improved to 7-4.
The Cleveland State guard caught an inbounds pass from teammate J'Nathan Bullock and heaved it toward the rim some 60 feet away.
"Normally those types of shots don't really go in," Jackson said. "So I just threw up a prayer shot and luckily it just went in."
The shot, a rainbow of an offering that traveled so far that everyone who watched it seemed trapped in a brief time warp, drove a dagger into Syracuse and lifted Cleveland State to a 72-69 win over the No. 11 Orange.
Jackson launched that prayer of a shot from his chest, so deep was the distance. He watched as it sailed toward the rim, and scurried to his left to get a better look. When it rattled inside the iron and fell through, he raced toward his delirious teammates, arms raised to accept their embrace.
Syracuse players, meanwhile, stood stunned by the insanity of the moment.
Two seconds earlier, the Orange had tied the game at 69 on an Arinze Onuaku rebound bucket. Two seconds earlier, the game seemed destined for overtime.
But Jackson somehow defied the sternest of odds. He and his coach, Gary Waters, summoned Divine intervention to explain the phenomenon. Nobody considered it anything less than splendid fortune.
"I was just blown away," Jackson said. "I'm still overwhelmed by it. I'm just lost for words."
The Orange men shared his forced silence. SU players, who had just lost their first game of the season in spectacular SportsCenter highlight fashion, trudged toward their locker room to try to make sense of what happened.
"I just saw a guy make an unbelievable shot," said SU forward Kristof Ongenaet. "I was just in disbelief. I wasn't even thinking of him making it. It was farther than three-quarters of the court. I was already thinking about overtime."
"It was just like somebody was carrying it to the rim," SU forward Paul Harris said.
"I was kind of lined up with the basket," said guard Jonny Flynn, "so when I see the flight of the ball, I'm just praying, I'm just hoping that it don't go in. When it went in, I just walked off the court. It just hurts to lose like this."
What hurt the Orange more was the way it happened.
Syracuse trailed, 64-59, after D'Aundray Brown converted a layup with 2:30 left to silence the Dome crowd of 15,416. But the Orange clawed back. Eric Devendorf sank his fifth 3-pointer of the night to get SU within 64-62. Bullock, the muscular 6-foot-5 forward who scored all 18 of his points in the second half, then banked in a 12-footer to increase Cleveland State's lead to 66-62.
Harris countered with a flip shot in the lane on a pass from Flynn.
Then, in the span of five seconds, Bulluck and Flynn traded clutch 3-pointers.
In all that excitement, the CSU lead was 69-67 with 22 seconds left. Cleveland State called time out, which enabled SU to set up its press. After the break, Flynn flung his body at a pass aimed toward Jackson. The ball squirted out of bounds and SU had possession with 15 seconds left.
Eventually, the ball swung to a wide-open Andy Rautins in the corner.
Rautins took aim and fired. The ball bounded off the back iron, but Arinze Onuaku corralled it and laid it in to tie it at 69.
"The shot went off from the corner and I just tried to get on the opposite side, because usually when there's a miss [the rebound's] on the opposite side," Onuaku said. "When I laid it in, I was thinking overtime."
So was everybody else. CSU coach Gary Waters said as soon as Onuaku scored that tying basket, he turned to his assistant and told him to prepare for OT. He never saw Jackson's shot.
Jackson said before he caught the inbounds pass, he glanced up at the clock to note the time remaining. When he caught the ball, he noticed Harris backing away from him and just let the ball fly.
"It was a long shot," Harris said. "I mean, I didn't want to be too close up on him and then foul him or some stupid stuff. So I gave him a little bit of space. I mean if he hit it, more power to him. He made it.
"It was a good shot."
The shot dropped SU's record to 9-1. Cleveland State improved to 7-4.
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