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Syracuse, N.Y. – Chris Bell anticipated the dribble-handoff.
So when Freds Pauls Bagatskis cut toward the top of the circle in Monday’s Syracuse-Le Moyne game, Bell had a pretty good idea of what he was trying to accomplish.
He stole the ball, was fouled and after he made two free throws, Syracuse breathed a sigh of relief in the form of an 86-82 win over the Dolphins.
“Just being aggressive,” Bell said. “I feel like I do a pretty good job of that in practice sometimes blowing up handoffs. I kind of saw that he was being lackluster with the ball so I just went in and blew it up and he kind of gave it to me.”
Bell and JJ Starling, the two stalwarts and starters from last year’s Syracuse team, combined to score 26 second-half points to help the Orange escape what would have been a crushing opening-day defeat.
The two veterans were quiet in the first half, when Le Moyne took a 41-36 lead into the locker room. Bell was 2-for-5 from the floor; Starling 1-for-4. Neither emerged in an offense that struggled to find a rhythm or make shots.
Autry talked all during the preseason about how much the Orange depends on Starling, the former five-star high school standout who is now a college junior. He can’t disappear for stretches.
“JJ’s a guy that we need for him to step up. He’s a big part of what we do,” Autry said. “I thought towards the end we wanted to get the ball in his hands and try to get to the basket. I know they struggled a little bit keeping him in front. He made a tremendous finish. I thought that was a foul, too.”
Autry is referring to the difficult drive Starling made with 34 seconds left in the game. He went left, powered to the rim and got the ball to fall. That bucket improved SU’s tenuous lead to 83-79.
The first half, Starling said, “just wasn’t my half and that’s OK.” But by the second half, he said, the ball “started to find me more.”
The final drive was a play he knew he had to make.
“This whole year I’m just having the mentality that nobody can stay in front of me,” Starling said. “When I got the ball, that’s just kind of what it was. I knew I had to make a big play. My teammates gave me the ball, they trusted me. I just got to my spot and rose up.”
As for Bell, just six of his 20 points came from the 3-point line. He exhibited the ability to attack closeouts or put the ball on the floor when the defense offered a driving lane. For much of his Syracuse career, he was tasked with spotting up and making 3s.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten better. I would say I have more opportunity to do it this year,” Bell said of his driving ability. “The offense is a little different and we got guys as well who can shoot and open up the space. I feel like last year I was kind of like the only shooter so I had a job to do. But now I kind of get to open it up.”
Autry said Bell “got lost in the game” in the first half, but when Le Moyne went zone, the Orange wanted to get him the ball.
The result for Bell was two second-half 3-point shots and that final crucial read on the defensive end.
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