Kris Joseph, press get Syracuse going

Allow Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, in his typical curmudgeonly fashion, to lend some perspective to the Orange's late comeback from a seven-point deficit to beat Stanford, 69-63, for the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament title Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

"We played 35 minutes of horrendous offense and three or four good minutes of full-court press," Boeheim said succinctly. "They really outplayed us the whole game."

But in that last 4:42, starting with a three-point basket from the left wing by tournament MVP Kris Joseph, Syracuse (6-0) certainly looked like the No. 5 team in the country as it turned up the pressure on the Cardinal (5-1) and took control of the game.

The Orange fashioned an 18-5 finishing run that included six points from Joseph, who had 18 points and nine rebounds, and major contributions from subs Dion Waiters (10 points, three assists, three steals) and C.J. Fair (10 points, five rebounds), both of whom joined Joseph on the all-tournament team.

Scoop Jardine had 14 points, and Brandon Triche 11 for Syracuse, which shot 60.7 percent from the field in the second half.

Aaron Bright topped Stanford with 13 points and Chasson Randle scored 12.

Boeheim's finishing lineup was the same one he used in Wednesday's semifinals to get past Virginia Tech, which nipped Oklahoma State, 59-57, in the third-place game Friday afternoon.

After Stanford took a 58-51 lead on a three-pointer by John Gage with 6:10 left to play, the Cardinal made only one of seven field-goal attempts the rest of the way and committed four of its 24 turnovers.

Speaking of the impact of Waiters and Fair, Stanford guard Randle said, "They brought a lot of energy . . . [Syracuse] has long arms, they're big inside, and they pressured us into bad decisions."

The presence of 7-foot Fab Melo, who had six points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals, shut down Stanford forward Josh Owens, who was held to four points after scoring 21 in Wednesday's semifinal.

Fair converted a three-point play with 3:55 left to cut Stanford's lead to 60-59, and after a Randle miss, Joseph banked in a left-wing jumper to give Syracuse a 61-60 lead with 2:53 to play.

Joseph had been quiet much of the game, but he came alive at the end to score 12 of the Orange's last 24 points.

"He stepped up and made the big plays," Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins said. "He's done that before. He had some tough shots. I credit him for making shots. Our defense was good on several of those situations. He finished plays around the basket through contact about as good as any young man I've seen."

Joseph said the baskets he got in transition off the press got him and the Orange going. "It was all about heart in those last six minutes of the game," Joseph said.

Even Boeheim admitted some surprise at how well the press worked. "We're hopeful it will happen that way," he said. "That was the difference in the game. Without the pressure, we wouldn't have won."