Chris Johnson said it was the greatest moment of his life.

With nine seconds left in regulation and his team trailing by one, the Le Moyne shooting guard took a lob from Durrett Miles and drilled a 3-pointer to give the Dolphins their first-ever victory over Syracuse, sending their in-town rivals into complete shock in what was supposed to be another routine exhibition.

‘I don’t even know, to be honest,’ Johnson said, trying to describe the play. ‘It was sort of a broken down play. I stepped out and I caught the ball and saw the defender was cheated over to the guy on my left, and I saw I had a wing to shoot and I knew I was hot, so I let it fly.

‘Good thing it went in.’

But Johnson wasn’t just a one-hit wonder for the Dolphins Tuesday. While the Orange was sitting in an experimental man defense, Johnson exploited a golden opportunity from beyond the arc, hitting 6-of-13 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 22 points.

‘I can’t even explain it,’ Johnson said. ‘It’s the best, the best win I’ve had in my entire life.’

Flanked by a pair of quick guards in Miles and Damani Corbin, Johnson was the benefactor of their slash-and-dish game. When Corbin and Miles beat their defenders to the outside, Johnson was able to set up on the perimeter with plenty of space to fire off one of his 13 tries from beyond the arc.

It started early, while the Dolphins were still just an afterthought in the Orange’s mind. With SU coming off an Andy Rautins 3-pointer, Johnson stepped up and answered right away, putting Le Moyne within four points midway through the first.

But it was the second half when Johnson caught fire and eventually cost the Orange the game. He hit his first 3-pointer five minutes into the half, and then hit another 3 a little over a minute later.

Despite the fact the Dolphins had another scorer hitting the 20-point mark – center Laurence Ekperigin – Johnson shot his way right into SU head coach Jim Boeheim’s gameplan for that final drive.

As the Orange set up, Johnson was spied on his left by sophomore forward Kris Joseph, and on his right by freshman point guard Brandon Triche. But as the play developed, it was clear something went wrong within the SU defense to give Johnson the open look it was determined not to allow.

When Miles swung the ball left and hit Johnson, SU’s Joseph didn’t step up from the wing, giving him a wide-open look at a game-winner.

‘We talked about one thing in the timeout,’ Boeheim said. ‘Not to let Johnson shoot, and he came right to Kris’ side and Kris backed off him. That was the ballgame.’

Wes Johnson scores game high

During the last exhibition, a modest eight-point, eight-rebound effort, we saw ‘Wesley’ – a more timid, reserved version of the junior forward, Wes Johnson said.

But Tuesday, with the first-game jitters gone, during a monstrous 34-point, 7-rebound performance, ‘Wes’ showed who he really is. This, he said, is the person to get used to.

‘I was myself, basically,’ Johnson said. ‘That’s Wes.’

In a dismal performance where the Orange had little to take away, the all-around ability of Johnson was overwhelmingly positive. During the game, Johnson not only anchored the scoring, but was an aggressor on the boards and a focal point through which the Orange offense ran.

Johnson went 12-of-23 from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point range to pace an otherwise stagnant Orange offense. On nearly every offensive set, Johnson had the ball in his hands and made sweeping drives to the basket that opened up the Orange offense to more opportunities.

Though Boeheim said just a week ago that Johnson would be a more reserved, all-around player, it looks as though he wants to break from the mold and lead a team desperate for scorers.

‘Wesley is a good player,’ Boeheim said. ‘I never really had any doubts about that.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on November 3, 2009 at 12:00 pm