PITTSBURGH -- Syracuse University survives the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"It was nervewracking," said Rich Franco. "My hearts about to explode. I think it was a lot closer than I would have wanted to see."
It was a close game, with the Orange finally coming out ahead of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs with a score of 65-72. During the last few minutes of the game, there were a few calls from the referees that got a lot of attention, including a lane violation by UNC during SU's free throws, and an out of bounds call that went against UNC. There was a collision between Brandon Triche and a UNC player, but there was no foul call. Click here to read a breakdown of the calls from USA Today.
"I was a little upset with how things panned out but we're Syracuse," said Eric Watson. "We're going to do great. We know how to pull through madness."
Post game, UNC Asheville Coach Eddie Biedenbach said his team played better than Syracuse today. Even some SU fans agreed with that, saying the bulldogs should have had a higher seed.
"It was a hard fought game, I didn't think UNC Asheville got as much credit as they deserved," said John Moran. "They should have been higher than a 16."
The bulldogs led SU at half, only the 7th time a 1 seed has trailed a 16 at halftime. A number 1 seed has never lost to a 16. Some SU fans said they never had a doubt SU would pull through in the end. "We werent going to be the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed," said Ryan Dorschel. "Everyone likes to talk trash about SU but we are resilient and we have Rakeem Christmas...who doesn't like Christmas in march?"
Syracuse will now face Kansas State this Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. on CBS 5.
