Balanced effort boosts Syracuse past Northeastern

Junior guard Naithan George had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead Syracuse to a 91-83 nonconference victory over visiting Northeastern on Saturday.

Kiyan Anthony added 18 points off the bench for Syracuse (8-4), which received 14-point performances from William Kyle III, Nate Kingz and Tyler Betsey. Kyle also had a team-high eight rebounds.

Northeastern (4-6) received 20 points from Ryan Williams, 19 from Zander Alarie and 17 from Youri Fritz. Alarie added a game-high 11 rebounds. Williams and Fritz both fouled out late in the second half.

There was speculation sophomore forward Donnie Freeman would play for the Orange after he dressed and participated in warmups before Wednesday's game against Mercyhurst, but Freeman missed his eighth straight game with a lower-body injury. Freeman averages a team-high 17.8 points per game.

Northeastern led 14-9 early, but Syracuse used a 7-0 spurt to take a 2-point lead. Syracuse led by double digits, 31-20, after a George jumper with 5:41 left in the first half. The Orange built their largest lead of the half on Kyle's alley-oop slam that made it 39-27 with 58 seconds remaining. Syracuse was up 41-31 at halftime.

George scored 12 of his 22 points in the first 20 minutes.

Syracuse entered the game shooting 58% from the free-throw line, but made 13 of 14 free throw attempts in the first half. The Orange made 24 of 48 free throw attempts in the game, which helped leave the door open for Northeastern.

Syracuse extended its lead to 65-50 with 10 minutes to play, but Northeastern was within five, 82-77, after a Luca Soroa Schaller layup with 1:35 to play. The Orange made it 84-77 on two George free throws and led by at least six the rest of the way.

It was the first of five straight road games for Northeastern, which dropped to 2-4 away from home. Syracuse is 7-1 in home games this season.