Gerry McNamara had one thought on his mind when Georgetown junior Brandon Bowman lofted a last-second shot at the end of regulation Tuesday night: dj vu.

McNamara recalled Syracuse’s game against Georgetown last season when he hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and McNamara thought Bowman had done the same exact thing to Syracuse with the Hoyas trailing by two.

‘I was thinking last year, honest to God,’ McNamara said. ‘Me hitting the shot to beat them, I’m thinking, ‘Don’t tell me they hit a 3 to beat us.”

McNamara’s dreaded vision would have come true except for one thing – Bowman’s foot stood on the 3-point line and the last-second shot only tied the game. Syracuse took control in overtime, scoring the first seven points to defeat Georgetown, 78-73, before 23,485 at the Carrier Dome.

Hakim Warrick led Syracuse with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while McNamara added 17 points and seven assists on five 3-pointers. McNamara broke Preston Shumpert’s school record for 3-pointers, reaching 251 for his career in the second half.

But it was the position of Bowman’s shot that had many Syracuse (18-1, 5-0 Big East) players thinking the game was over at the end of regulation.

‘I thought it was a 3,’ senior forward Josh Pace said. ‘I was trying to call a timeout to get ready for the next play. I’m glad his foot was on the line.’

Trailing by two, 67-65, with 30 seconds remaining, Georgetown (11-5, 3-2 Big East) held on for the final possession and kept the ball in Bowman’s hands. At the top of the key, the junior started to drive to the basket before pulling back and launching a leaning shot.

‘I thought it was a 3, so I was pretty angry,’ said senior center Craig Forth.

Syracuse quickly regrouped from Bowman’s last-second heroics, thanks to a quick start in overtime. Sophomore guard Louie McCroskey nailed a pull-up jumper on Syracuse’s first possession 31 seconds in.

‘Louie started it off the right way,’ McNamara said. ‘He got a good look off the dribble and made a nice pull-up bucket. Anytime you get a bucket right at the start of overtime to start off the right way is important.’McNamara followed with a 3-pointer after a Georgetown turnover and Hakim Warrick all but ended the game with a thunderous slam dunk on a fast break.

‘Louie made a tremendous shot to start the overtime period,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘That was a big basket.’

The game featured 10 different lead changes, and after Georgetown began the second half with an 8-0 run to grab a 40-36 lead, it appeared the Hoyas might steal a third conference road win after already knocking off Pittsburgh and Villanova.

Seven-foot-2-inch freshman center Roy Hibbert controlled the middle of the floor for Georgetown, scoring 12 points and adding 14 rebounds. Georgetown scored 22 points off second chances and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds.

‘I was disappointed with our rebounding,’ Boeheim said. ‘We just couldn’t get any.’

The Hoyas also used crisp inside-out passing, netting 10 3-pointers and frustrating the Orange by out-hustling Syracuse on numerous loose balls.

But as annoyed as Syracuse was, it still wasn’t enough for the Orange’s first conference loss.

‘We made a couple of plays to start overtime and that was it,’ Boeheim said. ‘It was a great ballgame.’

Published on January 18, 2005 at 12:00 pm