SerpApi.Org
Syracuse fans tuned into The Basketball Tournament to watch some former Orange favorites, including Buddy Boeheim, Cole Swider, and Elijah Hughes. But in Boeheim’s Army’s Game 1 win over Hall In (Seton Hall alumni), it was the non-Syracuse players that caught the eye first. Former Memphis and UT Arlington big man Kao Akobundu-Ehiogu made his presence felt early with a putback slam for Boeheim’s Army’s first points, and he continued to dominate the paint all game.
Boeheim’s Army built up a double-digit first-half lead and rode all the way to an 82-52 win in front of a packed house at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey. The Syracuse alumni team is now halfway to advancing to the next round of the alumni bracket, with two chances to advance with home games at the Oncenter.
After the Orange alumni took a 7-2 lead, Colby Rogers drilled two threes for Hall In to grab an 8-7 edge. It would be the only advantage that the Pirates would have all day. The Boeheim’s Army ringers flipped the game immediately.
Akobundu-Ehiogu threw down a lob from former Michigan State point guard Tyson Walker, who also went coast-to-coast for a layup. Former Division III star Ty Nichols had a pick-six of his own, and the Orange built up a 15-8 edge at the first quarter media timeout.
The run extended the lead out to eleven, but Hall In responded with to cut the lead down to four right before the end of the first quarter. That’s when a familiar face began to take over. Swider rose up for a putback layup to beat the buzzer, and he was just getting started.
Swider keyed the Orange’s run in the second quarter, and Eric Devendorf got in on the fun by draining a triple early on in the second. Swider and Boeheim drilled threes putting Syracuse ahead by 13 by the final moments of the opening half. Once again, Swider grabbed an offensive rebound and drilled a shot at the buzzer, rising over KC Ndefo for a jumper to notch his 15th and 16th points of the half.
It was more of the same in the second half, with Akobundu-Ehiogu throwing down dunks and Swider hitting threes. Syracuse extended the lead out to 20 by the end of the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Walker subbed out of the game with an injury.
With Boeheim’s Army ahead by 29, the Elam Ending target score was set at 82, and it didn’t take very long for the Orange to hit the number. Swider scored his 28th points, then two lobs to Akobundu-Ehiogu padded his 17-point, 11-rebound stat line, before Nichols ended the game with a floater.
The Orange shot 50.8% from the field and held the Pirates to 32.8%.
Boeheim’s Army grabbed the win against a shorthanded Hall In team that was missing star guard Isaiah Whitehead and Myles Cale. The Orange were missing Wes Johnson, JaCorey Williams, and Chris McCullough.
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Oncenter in Syracuse,
