ALBANY, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team endured a dog fight with the Siena Saint on Sunday afternoon, but freshman forward Mark Morano did more than just survive on the court.
The 6-foot-6 wing from Postojna, Slovenia, stood out in his unofficial Syracuse debut. Morano went for 18 points on 4-7 outside shooting. After missing the team’s first exhibition contest against UConn with a hamstring strain, Morano played 24 minutes against Siena and went 6-9 from the floor.
Morano checked in third off the bench for Syracuse. He nailed his first shot attempt — a three from the top of the key off a drive and kick from Ryan Moesch.
If you ask Syracuse head coach Gerry McNamara, it took Morano too long to get involved in the first half. McNamara wanted more shooting from his freshman forward.
“I was angry at him in the first half,” McNamara quipped post-game. “I ran three plays for him that he had shots where he didn’t take. So I yelled at him quite a bit here in the locker room.”
Morano was less bashful in the second half, shooting the ball with alacrity. He came out and made his first shot of the second period — a runner off the glass and in. Then, he made good on his second three-pointer, this time from beyond 25 feet.
“It felt good to finally get out there,” Morano said. “Feel the college physicality, the speed. It’s kind of different from the style of play from Europe.”
Down the stretch Morano hit back-to-back threes to give Syracuse its largest lead of the game at 13. With the ball in his hands he utilized a ball screen from fellow freshman Abdramane Siby and dribbled into a three from the right wing for his third triple of the game. Then, running with Ryan Moesch in transition, the point guard kicked to Morano in transition for a corner three that found the bottom of the net.
“That’s the biggest thing I can bring to the team,” Morano said of his perimeter shooting. “I talked with Gerry about it. I think that’s kind of my first option always to shoot a three.”
The outside shot isn’t all Morano has in his bag, however. With Siena threatening late he had a nice spin move along the baseline and flushed home a dunk with 3:17 left to play. Clinging to a three point lead with 18 seconds left he calmly made two free throws to keep the Saints at bay.
Morano finished with four threes on the day, the most efficient outside shooter Syracuse has had through two exhibitions.
“I think you see the ability to stretch [the defense],” McNamara said. “I don’t lie in that regard when I talk about shooters. He’s one of them ones. I’ve been around them. He’s got the high release point. It’s picture perfect. And we need it. We need it. Like bad.”