PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Tyler Lydon lifted his hands above his head, motioning for the obliging Syracuse fans to shout louder than they already were. Forty-two seconds were between the Orange and a moment that wasn’t supposed to happen. A nine-point deficit for a suddenly listless Texas A&M team ensured it would.

The arena’s buzz didn’t quiet. Malachi Richardson followed Lydon’s excited lead. It didn’t end as D.J. Hogg’s pointless layup went in as time expired. It didn’t end as the Syracuse players huddled together, alone at center court before carrying their trophy. It didn’t end as a solemn Texas A&M press conference was shrouded in “Let’s go Orange” chants outside its doors.

This wasn’t the Carrier Dome and it wasn’t the NCAA Tournament. It was a makeshift ballroom-turned-basketball surface and an early-season tournament. When it was over, winning the Battle 4 Atlantis didn’t matter to Syracuse. Proving it could did.

“We said at the beginning of the season that we would get on the radar,” freshman Malachi Richardson said. “That’s over with. People are going to know who we are.”

Jim Boeheim said on Wednesday that the Aggies (6-1) were the biggest and strongest team he’s ever seen. They’d just defeated Texas and Gonzaga. But their 74-67 loss to Syracuse (6-0) left Boeheim saluting a thousand adoring fans who didn’t want to leave, and Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy saying his team should have won.

The Orange battled back and forth. Twelve lead changes. Nine ties. Syracuse down by as many as eight. Up by as many as nine. A team that wasn’t given a single vote in the AP Top 25 with a coach that made fun of a media member that picked his team to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. Through six games, namely the past two, Syracuse showed how quickly expectations can change.

It left Atlantis, the lost city, having found itself.

“I thought we really hung in there when things weren’t going our way,” Boeheim said. “I think this was a great tournament for us. These guys really played hard.”

Danuel House had been pressuring Michael Gbinije all game. Gbinije called for a screen with time ticking down on the first half, hoping that if he shot quickly off the pick that House wouldn’t get to him. It worked, and SU was down by four.

When he turned around, he saw a ball coming in his direction on the Texas A&M inbounds. Anthony Collins was going for the ball as well. When Gbinije caught it, he leaned into the defender on a long 3-point attempt, drew a foul and made two of three foul shots. Five points in five seconds.

For the next 16 minutes, the score would never be separated by more than four points. Syracuse had three more turnovers, six fewer offensive rebounds, three fewer blocks, six fewer assists and 23 fewer points from its bench.

The statement of Syracuse’s win is that it can win while being far from perfect. For bad teams to beat good teams, usually everything has to be perfect. Nothing was that way on Friday, but it wasn’t a hindrance.

“I think we proved a lot of people wrong today,” Lydon said. “I think a lot of people doubted us.”

To say that Friday’s win was an exclamation point to SU’s defeat of UConn the day before would be to sell both games short. Friday was a confirmation that Syracuse is capable of doing so.

The locker room after the game was no different than it had been the two days prior, save for the championship hats that the players donned. Dajuan Coleman sat isolated, listening to music while icing his oft-injured knees. Kaleb Joseph did the same, but was on a chair next to Franklin Howard. Trevor Cooney tried to get dressed while a cameraman hounded him with questions.

It felt like more than just a Battle 4 Atlantis win because of its meaning. After the whole celebration had died down, it was just another game, but one that redefined the season’s expectations.

“We’re a good team,” Gbinije said. “And the only way we were going to prove that was to come down here and win.”

Published on November 27, 2015 at 8:00 pm