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SYRACUSE, N.Y. (12/17/12) – The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team used a late surge to cut a one-time 22-point deficit down to just three, but could not complete the comeback effort dropping a 72-68 decision at No. 3/3 Syracuse on Monday night on a nationally televised game on ESPN2. The Titans outscored the Orange 47-32 in the second half at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse (10-0) held a 61-39 lead with 9:09 remaining before the Titans put together a 25-6 run to cut the Orange lead to 67-64 with 29 seconds left. Michael Carter-Williams then made a pair of free throws to extend the Syracuse lead to 69-64, before Jason Calliste made a jumper to make it a three point game again, 69-66, with 17 seconds remaining. Two more free throws from Carter-Williams extended  the lead to five, before a Doug Anderson dunk made the score 71-68 with two seconds left. Carter-Williams then missed the first of two free throws before making the second to claim win number 900 for Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.

Anderson and Juwan Howard, Jr. led the way with 18 points apiece, which included some emphatic highlight dunks from Anderson, while Nick Minnerath added 13. Ray McCallum scored nine points with four assists and three steals while Calliste pitched in seven points with a team-high seven assists.

Syracuse jumped out to an early 10-4 lead by the first media timeout, before the Titans responded with an 8-5 run to trim the lead to 15-12 with 12:09 left. But the Orange answered back by closing the half with a 25-9 run, including a three-pointer from Carter-Williams in the closing seconds, to take a 40-21 lead into the locker room. Anderson led Detroit with eight points, including three monster jams, while McCallum and Minnerath had four points apiece. The Titans only shot 34.5 percent from the floor and were 0-for-10 from downtown, while Syracuse shot 55.6 percent and was 6-for-10 from beyond the arc.

Both teams exchanged baskets to start the second half, before the Titans slowly trimmed the Syracuse lead to 54-38, following a Minnerath dunk with 11:01 left. The Orange responded with a 7-1 run over the next two minutes to build their largest lead of the game 61-39, before the Titans started their massive comeback. Anderson recorded three dunks in the run, while Howard made a pair of three-pointers and four-straight free throws to help trim the lead to three with 29 seconds left.

Syracuse won the battle on the boards, 34-28, but Detroit forced 18 Orange turnovers, while distributing 19 assists. Syracuse shot 46.8 percent overall, while the Titans finished shooting 46.7 percent, including 58.1 percent in the second half.

Syracuse was led by Carter-Williams who finished with 12 points and 10 assists for the double-double, while James Southerland scored a game-high 22 points, 16 in the first half.

Detroit will stay on the road as the Titans visit Alcorn State on Wednesday, Dec. 19 in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic. The game is scheduled to begin a 2:00 p.m. CT at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Titans will also visit Temple (Dec. 28) before hosting Canisius (Dec. 30) as part of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic.