A Thriller in the Carrier Dome

by James Finneral

One the 1st of February 2014 one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the college basketball season was played. This game feature the Syracuse Orange and the Blue Devils of Duke University. The Carrier Dome was filled to the brim with over 35,000 fans. There were a good amount of Duke fans in attendance, but they were barely noticeable with the amount of Orange faithful cheering on New York's College Team.

 From the start it was obvious that this game was going to be a hard fought battle till the end. Amir Jefferson lead the offense for Duke in the first few minutes with many buckets down low. He was answered by an overall strong effort by the starting five for Syracuse. As the first half ended the Orange lead 38-35.


At the beginning of the second half Syracuse sophomore, Jerami Grant took over, scoring at will and grabbing many rebounds. The Orange offense was on, but Duke was matching them with scoring from Rodney Hood and Jabari Parker.

Once the ten minute mark hit C.J. Fair took over the game with drives to the bucket, baseline jumpers, and forceful finishes at the rim. Despite his ten point effort in five minutes the Blue Devils still hung around with three, three pointers from Tyler Thornton. With time winding down Cuse was able to hold the lead by three with five seconds remaining. Then Duke's Rasheed Sulaimon took the ball the length of the court and hit a three pointer at the buzzer to send it into overtime.

In overtime it was still a hard battle, but after Amir Johnson and Jabari Parker fouled out Duke could not finish the job. As they were down Duke fouled and the Orange foul shooting was able to ice the game by a final score of 91-89.

C.J. Fair lead all scorers with 28 points and 5 rebounds. Jerami Grant stepped up on the big stage with 24 points and 12 rebounds and freshman Tyler Ennis continued his amazing campaign 14 points and 9 assists with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.

This was an amazing game to kick off what is sure to be one of the most heated and competitive rivalries in the NCAA. This game was great for the new ACC and could be a preview to the ACC championship later this year. These two teams square off again at Duke on February 22nd where the Blue Devils will be out for revenge. This was a great game to watch and to start this new rivalry.