Judah Mintz scored 17 of his season-high 24 points after halftime as Syracuse won its fourth straight game Monday, pulling away for an 86-71 victory over visiting Monmouth.
The freshman Mintz sparkled, with 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and an 11-of-12 performance from the foul line to go with five assists and four steals.
As a team, the Orange (7-4) finished 22 of 28 from the free-throw line, including 16 of 19 in the second half.
Joe Girard added 16 points for Syracuse, while Benny Williams (13 points), Jesse Edwards (12 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, three blocks), and Maliq Brown (11 points) also made key contributions.
Jack Collins scored 20 points and Myles Foster had 17 for Monmouth (1-10), which shot 56.7 percent from the field in the first half but just 38.5 percent after intermission. Similarly, the Hawks were 6 of 11 from 3-point range in the opening session and 3 of 12 from outside the arc following the break.
It took a while for the Orange to shake the pesky Hawks. The momentum finally shifted following a 3-pointer by Collins with 15:27 remaining that put Monmouth up by a point.
Mintz made a jumper on the other end and then Williams converted a four-point play. Syracuse then went about 5 1/2 minutes without a basket, although the hosts knocked down nine free throws during that stretch.
Brown’s dunk with 8:45 left pushed the advantage to 68-56, and Mintz’s jumper made it 72-56 just over a minute later.
Monmouth scored the next four points to get within 12 with six minutes remaining, but Williams made a layup and a jumper to restore order.
Monmouth jumped out to an early 10-5 start before Syracuse scored 12 of the next 14 points to go ahead by five.
The Hawks recovered to take another five-point lead of their own, 36-31, with four minutes left in the half. However, the Orange rallied with an 11-4 run to close the session as the hosts took a 42-40 lead at intermission.
Collins led all scorers with 16 points in the first half, while Girard had 13.
–Field Level Media
