SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Texas Southern fell to Syracuse 80-67 during a Sunday afternoon tilt inside the Carrier Dome.
After an 8-0 run put the Orange up 17-9 with 11:34 left in the first half, Texas Southern used a 10-3 scoring burst of its own to get to within one of Syracuse, to which the Orange responded to with a similar rush of offense.
Syracuse's Michael Gbinije scored eight of Syracuse's final 10 points of the first half to give the Orange a double-digit advantage at intermission.
Malachi Richardson opened the second half by scoring seven straight points for Syracuse, putting the Tigers down 17. The advantage was enough for the Orange, as Texas Southern got no closer than within 11 points the rest of the way, despite outshooting Syracuse over the course of the game. Texas Southern shot 50.9 percent on the day, compared to 46.8 percent shooting for the Orange.
Derrick Griffin was one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring a team-high 20 points on 9-for-9 shooting – as well as dishing out two assists and swatting one shot. Malcolm Riley scored 13 points and pulled in eight boards.
TSU's Jerron Martin scored 18 points, all from long range and added seven assists. Chris Thomas scored seven points and added six assists.
