With the Syracuse basketball team up by two with 32 seconds left and Gerry McNamara at the free-throw line, the game was in the bag. Or so it seemed. But SU head coach Jim Boeheim had one more battle to fight – the record-setting 33,199 crowd at the Carrier Dome.

Boeheim scowled as he waved his arms at the elated Orange fans, trying to quiet those who were anticipating Syracuse’s 60-57 win against Notre Dame on Saturday. The game, which was featured on ESPN’s GameDay – SU’s first time on the program – broke the on-campus college basketball attendance record of 33,071 set at the Dome on March 9, 2003 against Rutgers.

‘We had great fans,’ Boeheim said. ‘It was tremendous support, it really shows the nation what type of fans we have.’

Boeheim quieted the crowd and McNamara hit both his free throws – it’s tough to psyche him out – but the support was out of the ordinary for him too.

‘The crowd was amazing tonight,’ McNamara said. ‘That was special to be a part of something like that. It would be great if we could have that every single time we played.’

Many of those in attendance are there every time, though. Dave Griffiths, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, has been to every home football and basketball game this year with his friends. On Saturday, he sat in the front row of the student section.

Griffiths got to the Dome at 3 a.m. on Saturday to be first in line for GameDay’s 11 a.m. show. He slept three hours with his comforter before the next group of fans even showed up.

‘It was a lot colder than I thought it would be,’ Griffiths said. ‘We knew we would get on TV if we got there that early. We just wanted to support the team.’

At the 11 a.m. showing, more than 2,000 fans were in the Dome. The noise level reached 120 decibels at noon, nine hours before the opening tip-off.

Griffiths and his friends retreated to the Physics Building to keep warm before returning to the line forming at the Dome. By 7 p.m., a few thousand people were already waiting outside for the 8 p.m. showing of GameDay. When they entered, each received a free ‘Break the Record’ orange towel.

At about 8 p.m., Bill Lutomski and his wife, Danielle, both of Rochester, arrived to take their seats in the last row of Section 333, opened specifically to break the record.

‘This is our first game of the season,’ Lutomski said. ‘We just wanted to help break the record.’

Section 333 is at the opposite end of the Dome from the basketball court. The last time it was used was during football season. Each seat sold had a clear sightline to the court, but in the last row of 333 binoculars were virtually a necessity.

‘There were a lot more butterflies in my stomach, I’ll tell you that much,’ SU center Craig Forth said of the attendance. ‘But it was a lot more fun.’

‘It’s tremendous – the whole year, the whole season,’ Boeheim said. ‘You need that kind of support to be successful. It’s kind of mind-boggling when you come to think about it. I think we all take it for granted way too much.’

Published on February 6, 2005 at 12:00 pm