Jan. 18, 2005

Box Score

By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Hakim Warrick had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Gerry McNamara added 17 points and No. 7 Syracuse held off Georgetown 78-73 in overtime Tuesday night.

The victory was the 11th straight for Syracuse (18-1, 5-0 Big East), which remained atop the Big East. But Georgetown (11-5, 3-2) gave the Orange their toughest game of the season despite serious foul trouble for its top three scorers.

Brandon Bowman, who was whistled for his fourth foul with 5:31 left in regulation, led Georgetown with 19 points. Jeff Green, who fouled out with 4:44 left, finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Ashanti Cook, who was called for his fourth foul less than 2 minutes into the second half, had only seven points in 18 minutes. Roy Hibbert finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Josh Pace had 13 points, and Craig Forth had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season for the Orange. McNamara was 5-for-12 on 3-pointers to boost his career total to 251, breaking Preston Shumpert's school record by two.

Bowman forced the overtime when he hit a jumper from the top of the key with 2.3 seconds left in regulation to knot it at 67, the seventh and last tie of the game.

Louie McCroskey broke the tie with a 15-foot baseline jumper to start the overtime, McNamara drained a 3 from the right corner, and Warrick sailed in alone for a resounding one-hand slam dunk to give Syracuse a 74-67 lead, the largest for either team in the game.

Jonathan Wallace hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to pull the Hoyas to 74-70 with 2:34 left, but McNamara, who had seven assists, hit a push shot in the lane and Warrick converted two free throws with 7.1 seconds left to ice it.