Syracuse is mentioned twice in the top 100 sports events of '09

I think the LAX final should have been up there with the 6OT game for the “Game of the Year” espy. I would argue that there was not a more exciting finish in sports last year.

Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf’s three at the end of regulation nearly deprived fans of a six-O.T. epic in the Big East Tourney. The near hero explains why it was good that his shot was a half-second late.

“When it left my hands, it looked good and felt pretty good, too. When it went through the hoop, I didn’t know what to do, so I ran and stood up on the scorer’s table. To be on that type of stage, in Madison Square Garden, in the Big East tournament, Syracuse and UConn, it felt like I was on top of the world. Coach Boeheim was trying to run off the court. He wasn’t going to wait to see if they’d review it, but they told him he had to stick around. Obviously, the shot didn’t count. If it had, I don’t think we’d be talking right now about the best game in college basketball history.”

UConn assistant Patrick Sellers: “When it first went in, we all thought it was over. And then it was disallowed, and we thought we were going to play five more minutes for the win. We didn’t know we were going to make history.”

Kenny Nims’ score set the stage for an NCAA lacrosse classic. The Syracuse attacker describes his goal that sent the game to O.T.

“I’d let a pass get away with about 25 seconds left, and when it went out of bounds, a lot of us were thinking, Man, there goes the game. But in the final seconds of regulation, Cornell defenseman Matt Moyer left his stick out just unprotected enough for me to make a diving effort and create a loose ball. Then it was just one huge play after another. I went to the goal and received a pass. The way goalie Jake Myers was playing me, my best chance was to jump around and dump the ball into the bottom of the goal. When the game went into overtime, we knew the momentum was ours.”