Geburtstage » Hartnell and Lecavalier return,

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C.J. Fair took over Sunday. The seventh-ranked Orange had let a sporadic Florida State team rally late in the first half and get within a point in the second. Then Fair got going. The senior forward scored 15 of his 22 points after halftime and led Syracuse to a 74-58 victory in the programs first trip to Florida State. "We saw right away he got it going," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "He had the hot hand. When he gets it, were going to get him the ball. "This was his best offensive game probably since Duke." The Orange, who ended a two-game losing streak, had lost 4 of 5 -- including two to sub-.500 teams -- after starting the season 25-0. They had been ranked No. 1 for three weeks and No. 2 for the previous eight weeks before the losses started piling up. "It was huge for us to get this," Boeheim said. "Last year we went through this and we had lost (three) and went to Georgetown to try to get momentum back and got beat by 35. "Weve struggled to score. We scored the ball. Did a good job on the boards and our defence was good. ... Momentum can be a funny thing. We turned it around last year in one game. You can do that and this will help us." Jerami Grant, who had been bothered by back problems recently, had 16 points and eight rebounds while Tyler Ennis finished with 16 points for Syracuse (27-4, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). Syracuses athleticism was too much for Florida State to handle as the Orange had a 43-24 advantage on the glass, including 17 offensive rebounds. "Im definitely feeling a lot better," Grant said. "I was able to come out and help my team however they needed me to help today. I think that definitely helped us get the victory today." Boeheim said, "Were a completely different team with Jerami Grant. If he wasnt able to go tonight, we wouldnt be very happy right now. Hes key to what we do." Okaro White led Florida State with 20 points and 10 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season. Fellow senior Ian Miller scored 16 points in his last home game while Aaron Thomas chipped in 14. "Their zone was pretty good today," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "It was a challenge for our guys to execute the things we had in their game plan because they kept making adjustments, and thats what their defence does to you." Syracuse ran away from the Seminoles in the second half behind Fair and two big baskets from Trevor Cooney. A 6-0 Florida State run cut the lead to 47-46, but the Orange answered with a burst that put the game away. Miller forced a bad 3-point attempt and Cooney responded with his first 3-pointer of the game on the following possession. Cooney buried another after a defensive stop and Syracuse went on to an 18-6 run that extended the lead to 65-52. The Florida State offence didnt have enough juice against the Syracuse zone to make another run. The Orange outshot the Seminoles 48.3 per cent to 38.0 per cent. "Every team goes through those rough stretches," Grant said. "We went through a little rough stretch, but were back and were flying just in time for the tournament." White kept the Seminoles in the game during the first half, scoring 14 of Florida States 27 points. He scored 10 consecutive points for Florida State to take an 18-17 lead after a putback. The Orange answered with a 14-2 run that nearly put the Seminoles away before the break. The run was capped by consecutive fast-break layups from Ennis, one part of a three-point play, to go up 31-20. Syracuse was shooting 47 per cent from the field at the time, 11 per cent better than Florida State, and had a 20-10 rebounding advantage. The Seminoles worked the deficit back to single digits with a 7-2 stretch to close the half, highlighted by a tip-dunk off an offensive rebound by White with 1 second left. Syracuse will be the No. 2 seed when the ACC tournament begins March 14 in Greensboro, N.C. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. https://www.soccerjerseyschina.us/.com) - Semyon Varlamov more than earned his third shutout of the season as he made a career-high 54 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China . Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became much clearer. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic . Everton Preview West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has been around the game long enough to not get too high when things are going well and not get too low when they arent.PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Kesler needed a lucky bounce and an empty net for the easiest Vancouver goal of the season. Its the kind of break a team needs sometimes to win on the road. And just the latest blunder that has Philadelphia mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Kesler followed the empty-netter with the second of his two goals with 2:25 left in the third period to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. The Canucks won for the second time this season when trailing after two periods. "You want to get those under your belt early and establish yourself as a resilient group," Kesler said. "We did that again tonight." Chris Higgins also scored for Vancouver and Roberto Luongo made the win stand with 20 saves. Tye McGinn scored both goals for the Flyers, who dropped to 1-6. The Flyers are the only team in the NHL that has yet to score at least three goals in a game this season. Higgins and Kesler and each scored in the third period to rally Vancouver. The Flyers fell to 1-3 under coach Craig Berube. "Were kind of sitting back and waiting for something bad to happen," Berube said. It did in the third. Higgins fired a shot off Steve Mason and Kesler pounced to score past the sprawled Flyers goalie for the winner. The Canucks tied it 2-2 early in the third when Henrik Sedin fed Higgins for a one-timer and his first goal of the season. Each team struggled to generate offence. The Canucks failed to crack 20 shots until midway through the third and the Flyers didnt attempt their 20th until the final minutes. The Flyers took only one shot on two power-play attempts, and their special teams unit ranks among the worst in the league. "We are scared to make something happen on the ice," Flyers forward Jakub Voracek. Armed with one of the lowest-scoring offences in the NHL, the Flyers almost broke through early in the first, but Claude Girouxs shot rang off the post. Giroux, once one of the best players in the game, has yet to score this season, though he did pick up his second assist on McGinns second goal.dddddddddddd "We are getting better every game, thats how we all look at it. Its a fact," Giroux said. "If anybody knows anything about hockey, theyll know we played a good game tonight. We played our best game, and its a good thing coming right now." McGinn has been impressive since the Flyers brought him up last week. With forwards Scott Hartnell and Vinny Lecavalier out with injuries, the Flyers turned to McGinn and pressed him into service on Girouxs line. He scored against Detroit in his first game back, then showed against Vancouver that he has a knack for positioning himself in the right place at the right time. McGinn backhanded a rebound midway through the first for a 1-0 lead. Philadelphias lead lasted all of 10 seconds. Mason skated behind the net and tried to clear the puck, but it took a funky carom past him and right to a streaking Kesler, who pounded the puck into the empty net for the easy, tying goal. "I didnt see it until it was in the blue paint," he said. "Its just one of those bounces." Mason stopped 22 shots -- just not the one he never saw coming. "Bad bounces happen," he said. "Its just how you respond, and I thought for the most part, we played a pretty good game." McGinn made it 2-1 only 2:10 into the second when he finished off a rush with a poke past Luongo for his third goal of the season. McGinn has a chance to stick around with Hartnell out another two to four weeks with an undisclosed injury. By the time Hartnell and Lecavalier return, the Flyers season could be unsalvageable. Giroux said its too early to give up on the season. "Well start winning games here soon, and when we will, well be back in the playoff race," he said. NOTES: Several Flyers sported pink tape as part of "Hockey Fights Cancer" night. ... The Canucks opened a seven-game road trip, which ends Oct. 25 in St. Louis. ... Sedin scored his 800th career point. ... Vancouver is 3-0 when it allows three goals or less. ... Vancouver won 20 of 35 faceoffs. ' ' '