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capping quite a late-season surge. "I
SYRACUSE, N. Adidas Jacob Larsson Jersey .Y. -- A month ago, Syracuse was unbeaten, ranked No. 1 and riding high. Now, the Orange are struggling toward the post-season having lost four of five. Trae Golden scored 16 points, including six clutch free throws in the final seconds, and Georgia Tech stunned No. 7 Syracuse 67-62 on Tuesday night, the Oranges second straight home loss to a team with a sub-.500 record. Syracuse (26-4, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) started the season with 25 straight wins and spent three weeks at No. 1. "Im not happy with tonight, but Im very happy to be 26-4," coach Jim Boeheim said. "Were well ahead of predictions. We just have to regroup. "I try to look at the big picture and not snapshots. Were in good position. When you get in the (NCAA) tournament, youre going to play somebody good. You play good, you have a chance to win. You play well, seeding doesnt matter. Its as simple as that." Last season, Syracuse stumbled down the stretch of the regular season, losing four of its final five games, the last a humbling 61-39 loss at former Big East archrival Georgetown. The Orange responded by winning three straight games in the Big East tournament, losing to eventual national champion Louisville in the title game, and then went on to the Final Four. "It didnt end the way I wanted it to," said C.J. Fair, who matched his career high with 28 points in the final home game of his career. "It happened, but our seasons not over. I still have a chance to win my last game." Golden won it with some clutch free throw shooting in the final 35 seconds. "I kind of went back to when I was a kid and just knocked them in," said Golden, who was 8 of 8 from the line. "My dad used to make me nervous when I was younger. It made me think about that calm. It really helped me out." Georgia Tech (14-16, 5-12) snapped a four-game losing streak, and its previous five ACC road trips had produced two wins, an overtime loss, a three-point loss, a four-point loss and a 10-point loss. Getting healthier by the day, the Yellow Jackets, who at one point in the season had only seven scholarship players available, closes the regular season against Virginia Tech on Saturday with the conference tournament looming next week. "Big might be an understatement. Its a huge win for us," Golden said. "We beat one of the top teams in the country." The loss cost the Orange a great chance to lock up a high seed in the conference tournament. Jerami Grant, the Oranges leading rebounder, had been hobbled by back problems the past two games and watched in street clothes as freshman Tyler Roberson made his first start of the season. Grants absence was felt as only Fair and freshman Tyler Ennis, with 18 points, scored in double figures. "Not having him, hes a big part of our team," Fair said of Grant. "It could have been a different game if he was there. You never know, but its a big blow to the team." Georgia Tech had 18 assists and shot 24 of 51 from the field while committing only nine turnovers. "I thought our guys did a great job of executing the game plan in terms of taking care of the basketball, moving the basketball, getting it underneath the zone and making plays for each other," Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said. "Weve had some tough times this year. This was a total team effort." Daniel Miller had 15 points and six blocks and Robert Carter Jr. added 12 points for Georgia Tech. Fair was 12 of 25 from the field and Ennis finished with seven assists. Trevor Cooney had only seven points and was 1 of 8 from behind the arc. After Fair cut the lead to 39-33 with a driving layup, Golden responded with a 3 from the right wing to put Georgia Tech up by nine. Two free throws by Kammeon Holsey and a jumper in the lane by Miller made it 46-34 with 13:18 to go. Fairs driving layup and a free throw by Michael Gbinije cut the deficit to single digits, but Chris Bolden beat the Syracuse press for a layup to give Georgia Tech a 52-41 lead with 8:10 to go. Fair missed a 3 but Bolden quickly missed one at the other end instead of taking time off the clock and Fair responded with a drive and shot off the glass with 2:41 left to make it 59-55. Fair was fouled on the play but failed to convert the free throw, making Syracuse a costly 7 of 16 from the line. Millers slam then beat the Orange press after a turnover by Fair, but Cooney finally came through with a 3 from the wing as Syracuse closed to 61-57 with 1:48 to play. Carter missed a free throw, but Ennis lost the ball on a drive in the lane with just over a minute remaining. Syracuse, which also lost at home to Boston College, closes the season at Florida State on Sunday. "Were just eager to get that win," Fair said. "Once we win a couple of consecutive games, that will get us going." Adidas Ryan Getzlaf Jersey .C. United on Wednesday night. Forward Bright Dike scored the games only goal in the 85th minute on a foggy night in Bradenton, Fla. Adidas Luke Schenn Jersey . Sundays game against the Colorado Rapids at B.C. Place Stadium has important implications in determining Major League Soccers playoff picture and will also mark the final game in the career of veteran South Korean defender Young-Pyo Lee. NEW YORK -- Three words raced through Seattle Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smiths mind as he streaked toward the end zone in the Super Bowl, returning his interception of a pass by Peyton Manning: "Dont get caught." That, Smith explained Monday at a news conference, would be the "typical thoughts a defensive player (would have) with the ball." And he heeded his own advice, going 69 yards for a touchdown on that play. He added a fumble recovery later and earned MVP honours as Seattle beat Mannings Denver Broncos 43-8 for the Seahawks first NFL championship. At no moment during Sundays action did Smith think he would take home the award. His teammates did. "Even during the game," Smith recalled, "guys were like, You might be MVP. And I was like, No way. No way. Not me. But to be here, its just pretty cool." Smith is not one of those players who long ago seemed destined to wind up getting the keys to a new vehicle the day after the Super Bowl, a sponsors prize for the big games best player. Coming out of college at Southern California -- where he was coached by the Seahawks current boss, Pete Carroll -- Smith wasnt invited to the NFL combine, where top prospects are measured and evaluated. Then, when the 2011 draft rolled around, he wasnt taken until the seventh round, the 242nd player chosen. Seems to fit right in with the Seahawks, more than a third of whom werent even drafted at all. "He didnt like it, but he had to go in the seventh round. Hes proven otherwise, just like a lot of other guys in our program," Carroll said. "I think it was extraordinary last night to see Jermaine Kearse score a touchdown, and Doug Baldwin score a touchdown, and Malcolm gets in the end zone and scoops up another fumble," he continued. "Guys that are not the heralded guys coming in competed in our program and found a way to contribute in enormous ways." By way of explaining in a euphoric locker room Sunday night why he was an appropriate choice for an MVP from these Seahawks, Smith said: "Im just fortunate to be a part of it, fortunate to get opportunities. Adidas Brian Gibbons Jersey. Im happy to be amongst a bunch of guys that play with attitudes and chips on their shoulders. Im happy to represent that." He went on: "You might have been overlooked. You might feel like you can make plays and never got the opportunity." Truth is, the Seahawks were the lucky ones. Because even though Smith was not supposed to be a starter this season, a player with zero interceptions in his first two years in the league, he always was ready when called upon. Pegged mainly as a special teams guy, Smith earned notice with his speed and ability to handle both outside linebacker slots. When Bruce Irvin was suspended for four games in May for violating the leagues policy on performance-enhancing substances, it was Smith who filled in as a starter. When Bobby Wagner was sidelined, and K.J. Wright slid over to middle linebacker, Smith got another opportunity to start. And when Wright broke his right foot late in the season, guess who Seattle called upon: Yep, Smith, of course. Then suddenly, on Sunday, there he was at the Super Bowl, in the right place and right time, as usual. It was Smith who wound up with the victory-sealing interception at the end of Seattles NFC championship game victory two weeks ago, grabbing the football after Richard Sherman deflected a pass in the end zone. And then, in the biggest game of all, Smiths pick-6 off a fluttering ball -- after teammate Cliff Avril made contact with Manning during the throw -- made it 22-0 late in the first half Sunday, and Seattle was on its way. "I was like, Again!? No way. I didnt believe it," Smith said. He grabbed a fumble later, too, capping quite a late-season surge. "Ive always just been taught to run to the ball and good things will happen for me," Smith said. "I played running back as a kid, so its always been the most exciting thing to have the ball in my hands." ' ' '
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