So, you want some drama, right? Something to keep you on the edge of yr seat, something with an amazing ending, something that is, quite simply, a thrill ride? Well, put down that copy of King Kong; I’ve got something for you.
It’s starring this young kid, Gerry McNamera, in the lead role – a role that he was seemingly born to play. It was almost like every key event was not just revolving around him, but that he was the event. He pulled out a legendary performance in four quick days and became the catalyst of this story. And what a story it is…
The Orangemen just barely made it into the playoffs this season, while their star player found himself with a new nickname: The Overrated Gerry McNamera. They weren’t supposed to have much of a chance (They had dropped their last three games by no less then 10 points (including a 108-69 blowout loss against DePaul) and came into the Big East championships as an unranked team. Even the most optimistic people had their doubts: They’d have to win four games in a row - in four days, no less - while playing at an exhausting pace. Sure, teams had played four games in a row like this, but no team had ever won all four games. ‘Underdog’ isn’t quite a strong enough word to describe their position going in – they weren’t even seriously discussed as having a chance.
Thusly, their first win was a thriller over Cincinnati – they barely scraped by, winning by just one point (74-73). Gerry McNamera took the team on his back in the final seconds of the game, running the length of the court with the ball and draining a three-pointer with just tenths of a second left to play. Still, they had just had trouble beating a team that had a worse record then they did. It was a classic, yes, but did it mean much?
As it turned out, it did.
The next day they played Uconn, widely thought to be one of the better teams in the conference – ranked #1, in fact. And again, McNamera pulled out the performance of a lifetime, the kind that isn’t supposed to happen twice in a row, less then 24 hours apart: He scored 17 points and had 12 Assists, one shy of the record, as well as a long three-pointer to send the game into overtime with 5.5 seconds left – which they then won, 86-84 (on another McNamera three-pointer). On national TV after the game, Gerry pulled another Mark Messier, saying that Syracuse was “definitely in” to March Madness.
But to be assured to get in, however, they needed to keep winning: this time against Georgetown, another team that was ranked higher then them. And once again, history was against them: teams were 0-16 in this tournament after playing an OT game. And to add to that, by this point, McNamera had played for 80 minutes of 85 minutes that his team had played (two full games in two days). By halftime, Syracuse was down by 15 points and had yet to lead the game at any point – and Gerry was hurt and spent more time on the bench in just that half then he had in the last two games combined. But McNamera did it again, sinking three after three after three, slowing getting the Orangemen back in the game. And with less then a minute he did it again, sinking a final three to bring them within one point – followed up by stealing the ball and dishing it to Eric Devendorf for the game-winning shot. One more game.
Fast forward another 24 hours – they were in a situation that just a handful of teams had been in: they had won three games in three days to make it this far, to the Big East Finals – but no team had ever won the fourth game. If they won they would be the first team to make it that far, as well as the lowest seed to ever win the title. It was time to make some history.
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