Syracuse Rallies to Win NIT Title

Deshaun Williams and Preston Shumpert ignited a second-half comeback that wiped out a 10-point Wake Forest lead Friday night and carried No. 18 Syracuse to a 74-67 victory and the championship of the preseason NIT.

Williams finished with 23 points and Shumpert 19 for the Orangemen (5-0).

Syracuse was trailing 48-38 and looking lackadaisical when Williams and Shumpert suddenly got hot. The Orangemen went on a 16-2 run with Williams scoring seven points, Shumpert five and Kueth Duany getting consecutive baskets.

That put the Orangemen up by 56-52. Wake Forest (4-1) regained the lead briefly on a 3-pointer by Broderick Hicks and a basket by Antwan Scott, but consecutive 3-pointers by Williams and Shumpert put Syracuse back in front again.

Darius Songaila, the hero of Wake Forest’s semifinal win over Fresno State, scored 16 points.

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No. 2 Illinois 105, Georgia Tech 66--Robert Archibald scored 16 points as the Illini (4-0) routed the Yellow Jackets (2-1) to advance to the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational tournament.

Illinois will play Southern Illinois, which beat Hartford, 78-45, earlier in the day, in tonight’s championship game.

Cory Bradford had 15 points for Illinois, while Brian Cook scored 14 and Sean Harrington and Damir Krupalija added 12 apiece.

No. 23 Fresno State 63, No. 13 Michigan State 58--Melvin Ely scored 14 points, all in the second half, as the Bulldogs (3-1) defeated the Spartans (2-2) in the third-place game of the preseason NIT at New York.

Ely missed both his first-half shots but had six rebounds as Fresno held a 32-23 halftime lead. The Bulldogs were hot if Ely was not. Fresno hit 12-of-21 shots while Michigan State managed only 10 of 34 in the first half.

St. John’s 66, Oregon State 63--Anthony Glover scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, including a pair of late free throws, and the Red Storm (2-1) came back to beat the Beavers (1-2) in the consolation bracket of the Great Alaska Shootout at Anchorage.

Glover also had 10 rebounds, and Marcus Hatten had 11 points and seven assists for St. John’s, which will play Tennessee for fifth place today.

Gonzaga 67, Texas 64--Dan Dickau hit an off-balance layup and a pair of free throws with less than a minute left as the Bulldogs (3-1) defeated the Longhorns (1-2) in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout at Anchorage.

Dickau finished with 24 points, shooting five of 11 from three-point range. Corey Violette and Zach Gourde each had 17 points and combined for 21 rebounds as Gonzaga outrebounded the taller Longhorns, 44-32.