CLEMSON, S.C. – -Jim Boeheim knows Clemson can’t shoot free throws. Everyone knows it.

So his plan was to extend the game as long as humanly possible. Thus, Syracuse started fouling Clemson – a 58.8 percent free-throw shooting team – early in the shot clock with about four minutes left in the game after SU cut what was a 17-point Tigers lead to 10. If Clemson were to clinch a trip to New York City, it would have to conquer its weakness at the free-throw line.

‘Whenever one of their big guys got it, we wanted to foul,’ Boeheim said. ‘We changed our defense and got back in the game.’

Slowly but surely the lead dwindled. Clemson kept taking 1-of-2 points in its trips to the line and Syracuse converted on its end. The Orange even closed the gap to a single point and sent K.C. Rivers to the line.

He made both.

Josh Wright missed an open 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and Clemson hit two more free throws.

Season over.

Clemson painfully sent Syracuse home with a dramatic, heart-wrenching 74-70 victory Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum in front of 10,000 fans in the NIT quarterfinals, a win that by all accounts should have been much easier for the Tigers.

Syracuse finishes 24-11, one win short of a trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals, which eight days ago seemed like a pointless goal. Wednesday’s game looked nothing short of inspired – for the final eight minutes, that is.

‘The first 32 minutes of the game, Clemson was just more aggressive than we were,’ Boeheim said. ‘The last eight minutes of the game we got on the offensive boards, guarded the basket, and I thought our press was good.’

But those last eight minutes were that close to being special.

With 1:04 left in the game, Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf drove to the basket and hit a left-handed lay-up, bringing SU within one, 67-66. But then David Potter saved Clemson. His putback with 28.2 seconds left – and the shot clock expiring – was the Tigers’ first field goal in more than three minutes.

Boeheim’s strategy of fouling early and often decreased Clemson’s chances for shots and limited the time the Tigers held onto the ball.

‘When you are 17 down, you have to get eight or 10,’ Boeheim said. ‘You can’t let the clock go down to two minutes and expect to come back.’

Syracuse put Rivers – Clemson’s best free-throw shooter at 76.5 percent – to the line. Rivers, much like he did all game, burned the Orange.

‘Obviously we missed some free throws,’ Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell said. ‘The game certainly got physical late. We got the ball to the right person and made enough free throws.’

Clemson shot 50 percent from the line (17-of-34) and 12-of-22 in the second half. From 6:34 of the second half to Devendorf’s bucket at 1:04, Syracuse went on a 22-7 run.

‘If we had two more minutes, we would have won,’ Syracuse forward Demetris Nichols said.

Nichols, playing in his last game at Syracuse, finished with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He was the only Orange player to make a 3-pointer. Syracuse shot 3-of-16 from 3-point range, Nichols 3-of-8. Devendorf scored a team-high 23 points. Terrence Roberts finished with 15 points – 13 in the second half – in his final game.

Wright took the last-chance shot for Syracuse with eight seconds left from the right wing. If it fell, SU would have tied the game. Boeheim said he was fine with Wright, not generally the go-to shooter late in games, shooting the ball.

‘There wasn’t enough time at the end,’ Boeheim said. ‘We wanted to do a dribble handoff, but Josh was wide open for the tying 3-pointer. I have no problem with him taking that shot. Maybe if there were 30 seconds left we would have tried to get it to Nichols, but with the amount of time we had left that was the best shot we were going to get.’

Clemson held a halftime lead of 11 points after a hot-shooting first half, but in all actuality, Syracuse faced a 15-point deficit at the start of the second half. Before Syracuse even possessed the ball, a minute and a half had ticked away and the Orange found itself down by 15 – Clemson’s largest advantage yet.

Boeheim was called for a technical foul at halftime for arguing with an official. Rivers converted both of the technical foul shots before the clock started. Vernon Hamilton then hit a short bank shot to put Clemson up 42-27. The built-up Clemson lead proved to be too much for Syracuse to overcome, despite a near-miracle comeback.

‘We have been in these situations a couple times this year and got back,’ Boeheim said. ‘These guys have battled all year. It was just disappointing that we did not play harder, earlier.’

Published on March 21, 2007 at 12:00 pm