beaten Team USA, its hard not to imagine that Simmons wou

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If only Syracuse had the Pearl -- on the court instead of in their hearts.On a day the Orange paid tribute to the late Dwayne Pearl Washington, L.J. Peak and Rodney Pryor put a damper on the day, combining for 43 points as Georgetown held off Syracuse 78-71 on Saturday.Peak had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Pryor added 20 points to key the victory in the renewal of a once-fierce Big East rivalry, which Washington was a big part of.Whenever Georgetown wins in the Carrier Dome, its a big win for the program, Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. This rivalry, these two institutions, when you think about the Big East you think about Pearl, Patrick (Ewing) and Chris Mullin. When you come up here and its Pearl weekend, its like they need some extra incentive? Without a doubt, hes one of the pillars of the Big East.Syracuse (6-4), which has struggled to form any kind of consistency so far this season, didnt find much again. Tyler Lydon was the bright spot with a career-high 29 points, missing only 1 of 13 shots, but where Washington once worked his magic, the Orange guards continued to struggle.John Gillon had 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting in his first start of the season and Frank Howard had four points, four assists and a game-high six turnovers. Andrew White, who has started in the backcourt six times this season, had 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting in 40 minutes.Were just not playing well at the guard spot I dont think at all, Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. Were making too many mistakes. Were not getting the ball in the basket from the guard spot. We havent in any of our four losses and weve got to play better there.Georgetown (7-4) has won five straight, the first four coming against teams from the lower echelons of Division I.The Hoyas matched the largest lead of the game when Jonathan Mullmore drained a 3 to give Georgetown a 67-60 lead with 2:36 left. The Hoyas hung on at the end after Lydons follow slam and baseline hook moved the Orange within 69-66 with 64 seconds left.Georgetown has lived at the free-throw line this year and that helped the Hoyas survive this one. They were 22 of 25 from the line, nine coming in the final 38 seconds, while the Orange was 14 of 25.It was Pearl Washington Day inside the Carrier Dome and the former Syracuse star, who died in April of cancer at age 52, was celebrated on a snowy, wintry day. Syracuse University is establishing the Pearl Washington Endowed Fund for Continuing Education and set a $1 million endowment goal. The fund will support student-athletes who leave the university and later return to pursue their degrees.A framed photo of Washington and a piece of the basketball court were presented to Washingtons family at center court during a halftime celebration. A No. 31, Washingtons number at Syracuse, also was unveiled and adhered to the wooden surface at center court.This is a very special weekend. Very special, especially since its the Georgetown game, said Rafael Addison, a teammate of Washington in the 1980s. Its hard to talk about him. Pearl would be very pleased with the outpouring of love. (When the 31 peeled off) it felt like he was in the building. He loved this building. He loved this community. He had so much life, so much charisma.White hit his first two 3-pointers as Syracuse rushed to an 11-4 lead in the first 5:08, giving the Orange the biggest lead of the first half, 11-4. The Hoyas clawed back behind Peaks 12 points in the opening period, and when Peak hit a follow shot to tie the game at 31-all in the final two minutes, it almost seemed like an Orange omen.It wasnt.We need to improve, take care of business, White said. That kind of puts a sour taste in the whole theme of the night. It happens sometimes.BIG PICTUREGeorgetown: Hoyas entered the game averaging 28.5 trips to the free-throw line and thats been a huge factor. They were shooting 77.5 percent on free throws before the game. ... Hoyas have won six of their last eight meetings with Syracuse.Syracuse: A video montage of Washington highlights was shown before the game. .. The Orange leads the series with Georgetown 49-43 but is 7-11 against John Thompson III. Hoyas are 13-30 on the road against Syracuse. ... Seven-foot-2 center Paschal Chukwu, a transfer from Providence, had retina surgery on Saturday and is out indefinitely. Hes played 108 minutes in seven games and had not played in two of the previous three games but still led the team with 14 blocks.ONE FOR PEARL: We just wanted to make sure that Pearl was honored. He was, Boeheim said. Were just happy we could do that. We had a lot of support from a lot of people.UP NEXTGeorgetown: Hosts UNC Greensboro at the Verizon Center next Thursday.Syracuse: Hosts Eastern Michigan on Monday.---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 Cheap MLB Jerseys China . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. China Jerseys Outlet . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. http://www.cheapnfljerseysoutlet.com/ . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. NFL Jerseys Outlet . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. In the lead-up to Rio, Australia were forthright in their belief they could win an historic first Olympic mens basketball medal - even gold.The early signs were brilliant, with the Boomers beating France, Serbia, China and Venezuela and pushing Team USA all the way in the group stages.Confidence was high ahead of the semifinal against Serbia but the Boomers dreams were brutally crushed as they were busted open in an 87-61 thrashing.?They were never in the contest, suffering one of their most embarrassing defeats in Olympic competition.So, what went wrong for the Boomers?1. Did they choke? And if so, why?Its one thing to lose, but its another to get embarrassed on the big stage. After a spectacular campaign - including upset wins over France and Serbia as well as pushing the U.S. to the limit - the Boomers saved their worst performance for when it mattered most. A win over Serbia would have guaranteed an Olympic medal for the first time in Australian mens basketball history.But they were way off from the very start as Serbia exploded with an early 8-0 lead that the Boomers could never recover from. Theres no doubt Serbia were strong, especially on the defensive end in stifling the Boomers attack, but the Australians looked dazed and daunted in defence for the first time this tournament.The Serbians pick and roll offense was a thing of beauty that the Boomers had no answers for. They tried going over the screen at the start of the match which allowed Serbia to get inside and knock down the easy elbow jumper. ?They then switched and tried going under screens, leading to open looks from beyond the arc for Serbia.Every little run and adjustment the Boomers made was well and truly countered by Serbia.To make matters worse for the Boomers, talisman Andrew Bogut looked visibly hobbled with a knee concern.2. Why couldnt the Boomers score?The Boomers dont have a go-to player but they used that to their advantage in playing selfless team basketball in the group stages, making sure to move the ball and force the extra pass for easy baskets and open looks. However, that was non-existent against the Serbians.At halftime, Auustralia had just 14 points on the board and had coughed up 11 turnovers as Serbia led by 21 points to virtually put the result beyond doubt.ddddddddddddYes, Serbias defense was suffocating but the Boomers execution and ability to get to their sets was awful.Off the ball, Australia lacked the same cohesion and effort that posed such a threat in offence. Without that activity, the Serbians were able to focus all their pressure on the ball without having to make many difficult decisions in defence.On top of that, the Boomers dynamic backcourt Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills could never find their groove as they combined to score just 16 points (less than Mills average of 21.2 points per game) on 7-22 shooting.3. Would Ben Simmons make a difference?After one NBA general manager proclaimed if Simmons had played, Australia would have beaten Team USA, its hard not to imagine that Simmons would have made a difference against Serbia and Australia would be through to the gold medal match.This years No. 1 NBA draft pick is a dangerous threat with ball in hand and would certainly have given the Boomers many opportunities when there was seemingly little happening. His ability to drive to the basket and crash the offensive boards would give Australias three-point shooters such as Dellavedova and Mills even greater room to operate and cut to the lane.At the very least, he would have attracted extra attention and forced Serbia to adjust their defensive schemes.4. Where to from here?The Boomers Olympic campaign isnt over yet.While the result wasnt what the Boomers were hoping for, they still have a chance to make history with a bronze medal against Spain on Monday morning (12:30am AEST).The game against No. 2-ranked Spain wont be easy, but you can bet that after the game against Serbia, theyll have a point to prove.Australia is motivated to lay the platform for the next generation of superstars with Simmons, Thon Maker and Dante Exum set to feature prominently for the Boomers in years to come. ' ' '