Cleveland State beats Syracuse on 60-footer
col. basketball
Cedric Jackson swished a 60-foot shot at the buzzer to give the visiting Cleveland State men a 72-69 victory over No. 11 Syracuse last night. Jackson took an inbounds pass with 2.2 seconds remaining and let the desperation shot go just as time expired to send the Orange (9-1) to its first loss. Neither team led by more than six points, and there were 16 ties and 15 lead changes. When Norris Cole hit a three-pointer and D'Aundray Brown followed with a fastbreak layup off Syracuse's turnover, Cleveland State (7-4) led 64-59 with 2:31 remaining. An assist and three-pointer by Jonny Flynn (16 points) cut Syracuse's deficit to 69-67 with 19 seconds left before Arinze Onuaku scored off a rebound with 2.2 seconds left. J'Nathan Bullock led Cleveland State with 18 points, all in the second half, and Jackson had 13, including his only make in five tries from beyond the three-point arc.
Other games: : Jeff Adrien had 18 points and 10 rebounds and No. 2 Connecticut (9-0) returned from an 11-day break for exams to rout Stony Brook (5-5), 91-57, in Hartford, Conn. ... Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 19 points and the No. 2 North Carolina women routed visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-6), 105-49, to improve to 11-0. Rashanda McCants, North Carolina's second-leading scorer, didn't play because of a sprained finger on her right hand. ... Jantel Lavender scored 18 to lead the No. 18 Ohio State women (8-2) to a 68-54 victory over visiting Cleveland State (4-5). Kailey Klein scored 30 for the losing Vikings. ... The Virginia Commonwealth women (7-2) jumped out to a 16-2 lead en route to a 71-43 victory over visiting Morgan State (8-2). Aaries Reed (11 points) was Morgan's lone double-digit scorer.
AP women's poll: : Tennessee's record run in the top 10 is over. The Lady Vols' streak of 211 straight weeks in the top 10 ended yesterday when they dropped to 11th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Tennessee, which lost at then-No. 6 Texas, 73-59, on Sunday, was last out of the first 10 on March 3, 1997. The run went 56 weeks longer than the men's record of 155 set by UCLA. Meanwhile, Connecticut remained a unanimous No. 1 choice for the third straight week. North Carolina, which stayed No. 2 this week, now has the longest active streak in the top 10 with 70 consecutive weeks. It would take them nearly eight years to match the Lady Vols' run. Maryland was ranked 15th.
