ering Gilberto up front. Jeremy Hall may get the nod if Bradley

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. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . After all, the No. 8 seed is chasing far loftier goals. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., defeated American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Wimbledons second round on Thursday. Cheap MLB Jerseys . -- David Ortiz saved his only hit for a key moment for the Boston Red Sox. http://www.cheapnfljerseysteam.com/ . -- Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson couldnt hear himself amid the roar in Koch Arena, so he kept stomping on the floor in a fruitless attempt to get his teams attention. Cheap Football Jerseys . She was 30. The former British No. 1 died peacefully surrounded by family and friends, the Womens Tennis Association said on its website. The Kyiv-born Baltacha, who represented Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, was diagnosed with the illness in January, two months after retiring from tennis and only weeks after she married her long-time coach Nino Severino. Cheap College Jerseys China . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey.TORONTO - Nearly eight years ago, the Raptors took a low-risk chance on an intriguing prospect out of Texas when they used a second-round draft pick to select the position-less P.J. Tucker. Tucker, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound bull, had the build of a power forward trapped in the frame of a shooting guard. By all accounts he was a misfit, destined to end up in the leagues scrapheap with the vast majority of its second-rounders. During his rookie season, Tucker played 21 games for Toronto, bouncing back and forth from the D-League before he was waived by the team less than a year into his NBA journey. After playing in six countries over the next five years, Tucker returned to the league and put up career-highs as a 28-year-old starting for the Phoenix Suns last season. The league has changed and, as a result, so has the need for players that are able to easily adapt. Enter Iowa State senior and Toronto-native Melvin Ejim, who is hoping to hear his named called sometime during the second round in this months draft. Like Tucker and many talented prospects before him, Ejim has been labeled a "tweener" - a hybrid player stuck in between positions as a result of size, strength or skill set. For a long time, the term carried a negative connotation in NBA circles. Who will he defend? How does he fit in? Now its become the norm. Tweeners, combo guards, stretch fours. As teams continue to challenge the defence with smaller, quicker lineups, the NBA is evolving into a league void of prototypical positions. On Thursday, the Miami Heat will begin their pursuit of a third consecutive title led by LeBron James, perhaps the most unique basketball player weve ever seen, capable of playing and guarding four or five positions on the floor at a high level. Last week, Oklahoma City was eliminated in the Western Conference Finals with three point guards on the court together down the stretch of Game 6. The team that ousted them and Miamis opponent in the Finals, the Spurs possess the versatility to match up with almost any style of play, thanks in large part to their versatile wings - Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green and Boris Diaw. Ultimately, what position you play is less important than the underlying question - can you play? At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, Ejim is confident that theres a place for him and his well-rounded game on an NBA team. "I think it depends on how you look at the word tweener," he said following Wednesday mornings pre-draft workout in the Raptors practice facility at the Air Canada Centre. "If you see it as a valuable thing, then I think that I bring a lot of stuff. I think that Im a small forward and I bring versatility to be able to defend bigger guys, I have a strong body that can do a lot of things defensively. Then offensively [Im] versatile, can shoot the ball aand play inside and out.dddddddddddd And if you dont consider those good things, then I guess tweeners a bad thing." Ejim, the Big 12 Conference player of the year, has fully embraced his basketball identity. "Its better than being called a glue guy," he said of the tweener label. "Ive yet to see anyone say, yo, youre a tweener, we dont really do tweeners over here," Ejim joked. "And honestly, its not even about being a tweener, its about being a player. If youre somebody that can go out and play basketball on different levels and play at different positions, then youre valuable, youre a good player." Following Tuesdays auditions, a pair of combo guards, Jordan Clarkson and Nick Johnson - also expected to go in the second round - echoed a similar sentiment. Versatility will also be a valuable commodity when the Raptors make their first-round selection at pick no. 20. UCLAs Kyle Anderson is a point guard in a 6-foot-9 body, athletic Clemson product K.J. McDaniels can defend multiple positions, while NC States T.J. Warren projects as a versatile and unconventional scorer. All three wing players are expected to workout in Toronto later this week. "Its almost a positive in todays game," said Dan Tolzman, director of scouting for the Raptors. "You want the flexibility that if a team goes big against you, you have the ability to just shift guys over a spot and keep your best players out there. I think the same goes the other way. If guys go small, youd like to have perimeter players that can bang down low and can rebound hard when youre in a small ball game. I think its just the progression of the game." Working out alongside fellow Canadian Khem Birch, a Montreal-native out of UNLV, Ejim impressed the Raptors, not only with his versatility and commitment to defence but with his approach, maturity and professionalism. "He came in [wearing] slacks and a nice button-down shirt," Tolzman said of Ejim. "He looked like he was coming to an interview and I think that clearly it resonates with us because this is a professional job interview for these guys." With a couple second-round picks at 37 and 59, the Raptors could consider selecting the hometown product, who would be a welcomed addition within Dwane Caseys system. Although his skill set continues to fly under the radar in a talented, wing-heavy draft class, its not hard to envision him catching on with a team and working his way into a rotation, not unlike Tucker in Phoenix. "His niche in my opinion will be as a defensive player," Tolzman said. "Hes a strong defender and I think the level of intensity he plays with bodes well for guys that focus on defence because when they give their all, they impact the game somehow, even if their shots not there." ' ' '