Providence shocks the 'Cuse

The Associated Press Sure, the Orangemen had put together a 21-3 spurt and had led by as many as a dozen points. But the Friars are a tough bunch and came back to smother Syracuse, 67-58. ''It looked early like we might get blown out,'' Welsh said. ''It looked like when we went into the locker room, their heads were a little down. I said, 'Wait a minute. I feel good.' I might have been lying a little bit, but I was trying to create a little bit of energy in there. I said if we can continue to do that, we've come from behind before, we can still hang in there.'' And the Friars (11-5, 4-3 Big East) did just that. Jamel Thomas and Erron Maxey combined for 33 points and 26 rebounds as Providence's pressure defense forced Syracuse (11-5, 3-3) into 21 turnovers and just 9-of-25 shooting in the second half. ''They worked hard,'' Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. ''They got a lot of turnovers. The first half we made some threes. The second half we didn't make shots. When we don't make shots, every game this year that we've lost we've shot poorly from the three-point line.'' It was the fifth win in six games for Providence, and it was a real gift from the Orangemen, who were 4-of-16 from beyond the arc. Syracuse, which led 36-29 at halftime, went suddenly cold at the start of the second period and stayed that way. The Orangemen missed seven straight threes and made just one of their first 10 foul shots. Providence was not about to pass up the opportunity. The Friars responded with an 11-2 run as Thomas had seven points and Leon Brisport added two layups for a 40-38 lead with 15:13 left. While Syracuse flailed and failed from long range and went scoreless for more than six minutes, the Friars pulled away to a 57-49 lead on a layup with 5:36 remaining by Justin Farley, who had 12 points. Providence did its best to give Syracuse a chance, missing nine straight free throws. The misses did little harm, however, because the Friars got the rebound four straight times at one point and outrebounded the Orangemen 51-41 overall.