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See Head Coach Ray McCallum's Postgame Comments

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- The Detroit Titans led at the half, but a 17-4 Syracuse run early in the second stanza proved to be the difference as the Orange held on for a 66-55 victory at the Carrier Dome Tuesday night. UDM held a three-point lead at the break, but Scoop Jardine scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half to give the 10th-ranked Orange the win.

Jason Calliste was the early answer to the patented Syracuse 2-3 zone, connecting on three deep triples in the first seven minutes: a deep three to open the Titan scoring, another to trim the Orange lead to 7-6 and another two minutes later to knot the score at 12-apiece.

Ray McCallum nailed a shot-clock-beating three in front of the 'Cuse bench and Eli Holman threw down an offensive board on the next trip, forcing Orange head coach Jim Boeheim to call a timeout with his squad down 17-14.

UDM would hold the lead for the bulk of the first half and would take a 28-25 advantage into the locker room.

In the second half, the nationally-ranked Orange awoke, ripping-off a 17-4 run to start the action. During the run, the Titan bench got shorter as Nick Minnerath had to sit with four fouls and McCallum sustained an injury which sidelined him for a stretch. Holman converted a layup to stop the run and Chase Simon added a trey to inch back 42-37.

Detroit fought back a tempered an energetic crowd, drawing within a bucket at 44-42. Jardine shifted the momentum back to Syracuse with a three-point play. On the next possession, a triple from James Southerland pumped life back into the Dome and forced a timeout.

The Orange would stretch its lead to 13 when Fab Melo slammed down an alley-oop for a 57-44 advantage. SU tried to melt the remainder of the clock but UDM would not back down, whittling the margin down to 62-55.

The lead would prove to be too much and UDM suffered its second loss-- both to teams who had 30 wins a year ago-- 66-55.

Holman led the Titans with 17 points on 7-12 shooting. Calliste finished with 16 points and also grabbed seven boards.

Detroit (0-2) will open the home portion of its schedule Friday, hosting Indiana Tech for a 7:30 p.m. tip.