Syracuse squeaked by Le Moyne winning 86-82 in a game which they trailed by five at halftime. Le Moyne had a chance to win but Chris Bell forced an offensive foul and sealed the deal with free throws.

Here are five storylines from the game.

Donnie Freeman was ranked the 11th best prospect in his high school class. The freshman had a mixed performance in his collegiate debut. Freeman played 28 minutes recording 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The good: Freeman looks like a natural rebounder as he found the ball on offense and defense. Freeman also stayed out of foul trouble which can normally be an issue for freshmen. The more he stays out of foul trouble the more he can play and develop. Freeman also made a corner 3 and showed confidence with his jumper. Freeman ran the floor in transition very well and caught a lob from Jaquan Carlos in the second half. He had a couple shaky moments but overall the game didn’t look too fast for him.

The bad: Freeman had a couple of missed assignments defensively. A poor ‘ice’ on pick and roll resulted in a dunk for Le Moyne. He was beaten by his man on a cut for dunk and he was blown by off the dribble by a Le Moyne forward resulting in a dunk which was a reasonable mistake for a true freshman. Freeman’s slimmer build for his size was also an issue. There were many times where he got the ball in the paint and could not muscle his way for a basket and instead had to fall away or take an awkward shot. Freeman was 3-12 from the field and 3-5 from the charity stripe.

“I thought he played well, you know, he's a freshman. I thought he played well. I mean, again, he gave us a burst of energy, you know, he made some shots… This was a good team, and this is a good first game for him. So again, I'm excited where he's going. Just gotta keep playing and keep getting better,” head coach Adrian Autry said.

Jyare Davis was by far the player on the court for either team. Davis had 22 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. With Eddie Lampkin in early foul trouble, Davis was relied upon for big minutes playing center and power forward.

Davis used his strength, and he was fouled several times as Le Moyne struggled to box him out of both sides of the floor; He shot 11 free throws as a result. Davis also showed versatility being able to play as the sole big man and also as a true power forward playing alongside Lampkin down the stretch.

“Well, if he didn't come in we lost the game… I thought he was huge. You know, he made tough baskets. You know, he scored, he rebounded. You know, again, you know, he was big for us. You know, without Jayre Davis, we don't win this game. It's simple,” Autry said.

Le Moyne did not field a player taller than 6’9” and as a result Syracuse took a lot of shots from inside the paint. But Syracuse missed plenty of shots around the rim, especially after offensive rebounds. Freeman, Peter Majstorovic at times struggled around the rim and JJ Starling even missed a dunk.

Free throw shooting was also an issue for Syracuse as they shot 20-31. No player for the Orange went perfect from the line. Their struggles nearly cost them the game as Carlos went one for two from the line with 20 seconds left unable to stretch the lead to three giving Le Moyne a chance to win the game.

“I thought we were a little tight. A lot of our guys that first time playing, hitting, you know, transfer, take them all like they just, you know. I think, you know, they maybe made it bigger than what it needed to be,” Autry said. “I was just really trying to tell those guys ‘relax, calm down,’ just keep trying to defend, get some rebounds, you know, finish the play, to get up the court, take our shots.”

Lampkin totalled 19 minutes in his Syracuse debut, and would’ve had a lot more had it not been for foul trouble. Lampkin recorded his second foul with just over six minutes into the game which kept on the bench for the rest of the first half.

He had his third foul less than a minute into the second half keeping him on the bench for a while. Lampkin totalled ten points and three rebounds which all game on the offensive end.

Lampkin showed a great connection with Davis down the stretch as they made quick work of Le Moyne’s zone defense. Lampkin made a great stop late in the game staying with his man forcing a travel. Lampkin was also the best finisher around the rim for the Orange going 5-8 from the field.

Lampkin’s size was taken advantage of by a smaller Le Moyne team and he sometimes struggled to move his feet and keep up with their small forwards leading to easy baskets. Lampkin also had two turnovers, one coming from when he spun into a double team in the post, the other was a strange moment when he seemingly passed up a layup and tried to make an extra pass that went out of bounds.

Carlos earned the starting job as the point guard next to Starling. He clearly had Autry’s trust as he played 36 minutes, much of which was spent in foul trouble. His teammates constantly fed him the ball after defensive rebounds, relying on him to lead the break while they ran in transition. Syracuse had 16 fast break points as a result including an alley-oop from Carlos to Freeman.

Carlos finished with six assists and only one turnover leading an Orange team that won the turnover battle and had 10 more points off turnovers than Le Moyne.

Even though Carlos only scored four points, he was a pivotal part of the offense and a true classic point guard.

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