Syracuse knew it’s Friday night game against three-time defending Canadian champion Carleton would be tough as Carleton had already gone 3-0 against American competition this summer.
But the Orange rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to defeat the Canadian Interuniversity Sport champions 69-65 in overtime after Carleton had defeated TCU, Towson and Wisconsin earlier this summer.
Sophomore Jerami Grant led the Orange with 18 points and nine rebounds while Tyler Ennis (15 points), Trevor Cooney (12 points) and C.J. Fair (11 points) also finished in double figures.
Obviously an exhibition game against a Canadian team doesn’t mean a whole lot for the upcoming season, but Carleton has won nine of the last 11 CIS titles and handily defeated some other D1 opponents this summer.
The biggest takeaway from this game is Syracuse fighting back after losing for much of the game and rallying to tie the game in the second half and force overtime against a good and prepared opponent.
Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis scoring 15 points is also a positive sign as the Orange will need him to contribute immediately this season.
Syracuse finishes their Canadian trip on Saturday night with one more game against Ottawa.