KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jonny Flynn walked into the tunnel, both hands in the air, a model of composure.

But once the Syracuse sophomore point guard was out of sight, he couldn’t contain his joy. Fists clenched at his sides, Flynn bounced up and down, sporting his famous ear-to-ear grin.

‘We back, man,’ Flynn shouted to anyone within earshot. ‘We back.’

Minutes earlier, Syracuse had topped No. 22 Kansas, 89-81 in overtime, to take the CBE Classic tournament championship in front of 16,988 at the Sprint Center Tuesday night.

Flynn hit a game-tying 3-pointer from the wing with six seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime, capping a 13-point second-half comeback for Syracuse. He finished the game with 25 points, and took home the tournament MVP trophy.

‘We got a second chance,’ Flynn said. ‘And we took care of it.’

In overtime, the Orange (5-0) leaned on Kansas (3-1) and built an insurmountable lead. After junior center Arinze Onuaku netted a bucket and foul shot on the Orange’s first possession, Syracuse played near-flawless basketball and extended the lead up to nine points in front of an emptying arena.

The win marked SU’s second against a ranked team in two days, following an 89-83 win over No. 17 Florida the previous night. Prior to that, the Orange hadn’t beaten a ranked foe in non-conference play for more than four years.

For the SU players, it’s just one sign that they’re beginning to emerge into the national spotlight from the shadows of two consecutive NIT appearances.

‘We did what we had to do,’ said junior shooting guard Eric Devendorf, who scored 20 points. ‘We should definitely earn our respect.’

After a quiet first half, Flynn exploded for 19 points in the second half and overtime to lead the SU charge back into the game.

But with 33 seconds left in regulation, Flynn gave up a costly turnover when he allowed KU center Cole Aldrich to swipe the ball away at the top of the key and take it down to the other end. The Orange was forced to foul Aldrich, who made one of two free throws to extend Kansas’ lead to three.

On the other end, SU worked the ball around to a wide-open Flynn, who opted for the game-tying shot instead of a quick layup and foul. He threw up a rainbow with six ticks left that swirled home as the SU bench exploded behind him.

‘I thought he would go on him and get a two, there was still enough time,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He kept waiting, so then I figured he was going to go for the 3. He knocked it down. That was quite a shot.’

It was a bucket Flynn felt like he owed his team, after his mistake on the previous possession.

‘I definitely thought I needed to redeem myself,’ Flynn said.

After hanging with Kansas throughout most of the first half, the Orange gave up an 8-0 run late to head into halftime. The Jayhawks extended their lead to 13 in the opening minutes of the second half, before the Orange switched to man defense. That forced three quick turnovers on the perimeter, two by Flynn, and Syracuse stormed back into the game with a 10-0 run.

Playing 30 miles from Kansas’ campus, the game was essentially a home one for KU, whose fans packed the arena. That made the comeback effort even sweeter for the Orange.

‘It’s a tough place to play,’ Boeheim said. ‘Our guys really hung in there. We kept making some mistakes, getting some shots blocked, we just kept coming back and coming back at them. We never gave up. We just kept battling them.’

Syracuse remains unbeaten on the young season, and now moves into a softer period of its schedule, with Virginia on Friday at the Carrier Dome. The Orange will go back to Syracuse with a gold trophy in tow, along with a newfound sense of confidence in itself.

‘We’re on our way back to the good old days,’ Flynn said. ‘The Syracuse glory days.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on November 28, 2008 at 12:00 pm