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USA TV Talk Sports with Justin Mazzarese
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3/10/06
MacNamera Moves Mountain
Justin Mazzarese
Sports Editor
So your team is entering Big-East tournament by just being recognized for your six All- Big East selections and according to the �experts� you were spotted to be the number one overall seed in the National Tournament barring a �complete disaster.� With these accolades you walk into the Big East tournament with a little swagger, strut if you will, because you�re playing the number nine seed Syracuse Orange; who lifted, what seems so long ago, the National Championship Trophy just three years ago.
That was the heavily favored UConn Huskies mind set going into the game against the Syracuse Orange. They thought that Gerry MacNamera�s last game heroics against the Cincinnati Bearcats the night prior was a fluke. How wrong they were.
UConn bought into the criticism that was flying around MacNamera all year. Sportswriter claimed that he was overrated and underachieving. In MacNamera�s defense, he was left with a team that was not necessarily in shambles, but slated to not succeed in the newly formed Big East who added competitive teams like Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati.
Going into the Big East tournament, it was not looking good for the Orange who ending the season by losing three in a row and were looking up at the mountain of competition. If the Orange defeated the Bearcats in the first round they would be poised to face the UConn Huskies.
The Orange, or should I say MacNamera�s, special run started when they defeated the Bearcats in dramatic fashion has MacNamera hit a three pointer with a second left in the game. With the emotional win, Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boheim was emotional after the game and when asked his thoughts on MacNamera being �overrated,� through out the year, the normally cool, fun-loving Boheim�s lost it. �We would not have won 10 F***ing game this year without MacNamera,� Boheim yelled at the reporter. These comments lifted an already motivated MacNamera, who was still riding the high of playing his final home game as a Syracuse Orange just a week ago in front of a record crowd of 33,000 the Carrier Dome, to new heights.
Sadly though, with all of his accomplishments of being a National Champion, becoming the greatest free-throw shooter in Big East history, MacNamera felt he still needed to prove something going into the game against UConn; a game which ultimately would decide whether his colligate career was over or not.
Against UConn, MacNamera came out firing, not shots, but passes as he accounted for 10 assists in the first half alone; his efforts led his team to an 11 point halftime lead. As the game proceeded, UConn showed why it was the number one team in the nation when they fought back to tie the game with four minutes to play.
In the final minute, UConn�s Rashad Anderson and Denom Brown showed great heroics when they both hit threes with a man in their face to keep the lead. However, it was MacNamera�s heroics that kept his team alive when he hit a three, from NBA range, to tie the game with ten seconds to go. This shot gave Syracuse the opportunity to defeat UConn in overtime which pretty much dissolved any thought of Syracuse not making the National Tournament and any thought of ever doubting MacNamera again.
Copyright 2006 Justin Mazzarese. All Rights Reserved.
Reprint without permission is prohibited.
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