MARATHON MARCH MADNESS HOOPS CLASSIC

Last night at approximately 9:30 pm., The Big East Tournament crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City witnessed an instant classic game as the Syracuse Orangemen defeated the University of Connecticut Huskies 127-117 in an epic six overtime thriller. Seventy minutes of basketball were played with the game ending at about 1:30 am.It was a war of attrition as both teams had many of their key players foul out and had to resort to seldom used players to put a team of five players on the floor. Syracuse battled back in each of the first five overtimes to force a Big East record sixth overtime. This game was the second longest collegiate game ever played with the longest game occurring in 1981 with a seven overtime game involving Cincinnati.After the game Connecticut Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun said that he could recall at least six instances where Connecticut had a chance to close out the game with a shot or a stop but his team was unable to accomplish that. Give both teams credit for a hard fought contest.It is easy to look back and analyze a game and say "If only this or that happened. If he made that free throw, if he hadn't fouled, etc..." In the final result both teams played hard and the fans sure got their money's worth.