By MICHELLE SAGAN
SYRACUSE — D’Angelo Harrison has been hearing that Syracuse is “New York’s College Team” for his entire four-year tenure at St. John’s.
Posters proclaiming that sentiment are all over New York City subways and cabs.
Entering Saturday’s non-conference tilt between the two teams at the Carrier Dome, the Orange led the all-time series 51-37 and St. John’s had failed to win a game there since 1999, when Harrison was 5 years old.
But thanks to a game-best 24 points from Harrison and 11 straight second-half points from fellow senior Phil Greene IV that powered a 17-2 run over the final 4:06, that is all history now after St. John’s beat Syracuse, 69-57 in front of 24,884 at the Dome.
“Coach [Steve Lavin] said look up there [in the Dome], and it said ‘New York’s College Team,'” Harrison said. “That gave us fire. It gave us motivation for today’s game.”
After Syracuse closed to within 55-52, Greene responded with back-to-back trifectas to shift the lead back to St. John’s for good. On the ensuing possession he made a clutch steal, swiping the ball from Michael Gbinije, and went in for the layup at 2:05 to put the Red Storm up 60-55.
Greene (18 points) delivered his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 58 seconds remaining, which set St. John’s up to seal the game at the free-throw line. St. John’s shot 20-for-25 (80.0 percent) from the line, and hit all six attempts in the final 43 seconds en route to its fifth double-digit victory of the year.
“In my head I said I was shooting regardless,” Greene said. “I knew I was going to make a big shot. I had it in me, I just felt it.”
Rakeem Christmas went for 15 points, 15 boards and 3 blocks for Syracuse (5-3), while Bronx native Chris McCullough added 13 points and 3 blocks.
St. John’s is now 6-1 and off to its best start of the Lavin Era in a year when Harrison said it would be a “complete failure” if they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.
“This group [of primarily seniors] has experienced some big wins over their careers, but this may be the biggest to this point,” Lavin said. “This is an in-state rivalry against a former Big East member. The locker room had a special feel post-game. There was a good energy yet they understand we have work to do.”
St. John’s last week beat a solid Minnesota team before losing a close one to then-No. 10 Gonzaga in the final of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden. Now they can add a win over a Syracuse team that isn’t ranked but has been a thorn in their side.
“I haven’t beat these guys since I’ve been here,” Greene said. “It’s a big win for us. D’Angelo made some big shots to get us going.”
Harrison was all smiles after the game.
“We’ve been saying this group is going to be special,” he said. “We let Gonzaga slip away but we got it back today.
St. John’s next big chance for a signature non-conference win comes Jan. 25 when they host No. 4 Duke at the Garden
“We will celebrate this for 24 hours then we will flush it,” Harrison said. “That is our mindset we have got to get ready for the next one.”
For now, Harrison is pretty sure he knows who New York’s team is at the moment.
“I’ll probably wink at the next [sign] I see,” he said.
Photos: Mark Konezny / USA Today Sports
