Syracuse Basketball: Top 3 games at the Carrier Dome

Syracuse 65, Georgetown 63.

Georgetown was No. 1 in the country.

They were defending NCAA champions.

The Hoyas were made in the image of big Coach John Thompson. The Hoyas were 7-foot center Patrick Ewing, the most intimidating player in the game.

Georgetown had an air of invincibility. They were mean. They were tenacious. They loved playing the role of the villain.

And let’s face it, they were scary.

It was a different time in college hoops, when players played four years for one school. For example, in today’s game, there is no possible way Ewing would have returned for his sophomore year, let alone play four years in college. So we got to know our opponents to a different degree than fans do now.

And we knew Georgetown. Our most hated rival. It was personal.

And they were coming back into our house, the Dome.

We were No. 11 in the country and had the incomparable Pearl Washington and Rafael Addison (18.6 points per game) as our leaders. But we hadn’t been to a Final Four in the Boeheim era. A freshman center out of nowhere named Rony Seikaly had the job of checking Ewing. We were underdogs, even at home.

It was still in the infancy of “Big Monday” on ESPN (weekly Big East hoops on Monday nights), and the game was hyped by the worldwide leader until fans were in a frenzy.

A crowd of 32,229 packed the Dome, only the third time an on-campus college basketball game had more than 32,000 fans.

The game began, and 3 minutes in, Ewing was at the line. Then the unthinkable happened. A crazy Syracuse fan threw an orange at the court, and it hit the backboard as Ewing was making his shot.

Thompson pulled his team off the floor.

Boeheim grabbed the microphone and told the crowd that if anything else was thrown on the court, he would ask the referees for a technical foul each time.

Ewing got a do-over. The crowd was at once apologetic, in disbelief, and still focused on taking on Georgetown, chanting “Let’s GO ORANGE!”

The game was a war. Addison kept us in it, with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Ewing was his dominant self, with 21 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks.

And then it came down to The Pearl. He hadn’t had a great game. But down one with 16 seconds to go, he was going to be the man. As the legend has it, first Boeheim drew up a play that didn’t include Dwayne Washington. But then Pearl looked at his coach. Didn’t say a word. His eyes told Boeheim, before Hoosiers was a movie, “I’ll make it.” So Boeheim changed the play to instead essentially be, “get the ball to Pearl and get out of the way.”

Pearl got it, spun, put on two moves, and drilled a 15-foot jumper to take the lead. Syracuse hung on to win. The crowd could not contain itself, rushing the court, behind the crazed Dome Ranger. It was beautiful.

I was 14 at the time, it was the advent of the VCR. I had the game taped, and watched it back countless times. What a drama. The type of game that will make you love a sport for life.

Looking back, yes, I hated Georgetown. But now, I appreciate all that goes into a rivalry like that and it’s more love/hate. Coach Thompson, RIP, Ewing, et al, thank you for giving us this rivalry. And, for giving us this incredible game.

The game in full: