With 30 seconds left and the Syracuse men’s basketball team up three, Josh Pace – and the game – were on the line. The spotlight shone on him. He had a chance to seal the victory, make it a two-possession game, end Villanova’s valiant comeback.

He bent his knees, aimed and fired two typically awkward shots. First one: short. Second one: off.

In a way, it fit. Pace, a guard, played 38 minutes, scoring 14 of the most quiet points in recent memory. As well as he played, Pace wasn’t meant for the spotlight last night in Syracuse’s 64-59 win over Villanova.

All he did was pick and prod his way to the hoop. Not highlight-reel stuff.

After the game, Pace’s comments were as bland as his performance.

‘I just think that when I’m playing well,’ Pace said, ‘it’s good for the team.’

No, really?

But above Syracuse’s offensive struggles stood Pace last night, helping ignite SU with drives to the lane and kick-outs to open shooters despite his infamous, awkward shooting form, which does to the eyes what nails on a chalkboard do to the ears.

Last night, that form didn’t matter, as it never does when Pace is at his best. He was the only SU player to shoot more than 50 percent, and yet he played quietly. Who even realized he was in the game until a late glance at the box score? Fourteen points on 7-for-11 shooting? Had to be a mistake.

Fortunately for SU, it wasn’t. Pace slithered and bullied his way through Villanova’s porous defense like a running back, finding a hole, darting to it and picking up as much as he could.

That amounted to seven unspectacular lay-ups, causing cringes as Pace seemingly instructed the ball to hit each quadrant of the rim before safely nestling through for two.

‘That’s his shooting form,’ freshman Louie McCroskey said. ‘That’s what’s comfortable for him. You can teach fundamentals all you want, but at the end of the day, it has to be good for the player.’

Somehow, for Pace, it works.

He’s just a role player, not one who’s supposed to revive a struggling offense by tip-toeing through the lane and lofting shots with his long left arm.

But that’s just what he did last night. By the end of the game, defenders became cautious when defending the junior, playing off him. A late-game look to McCroskey, who drained a 3 to put SU up eight with 2:29 left, reflected more on Pace than the baby-faced McCroskey.

‘He was going to work, doing what he can do,’ center Jeremy McNeil said. ‘I was expecting him to do that the whole year. I’ve seen him every day in practice, and he can do even more than that.’

Pace showed it earlier this year. His efficient shooting – 6 for 13 against Charlotte, 4 for 6 for 11 points against St. Bonaventure, 5 for 7 against Colgate and 10 for 12 against Michigan State – provided a reliable fourth-scoring option behind Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara and the now-enigmatic Billy Edelin.

But when the Orangemen dropped into a scoring lull, Pace joined them. Single-digit scoring games have littered his stats sheet of late, putting even more pressure on McNamara to regain his lost touch.

Last night, though, Pace took his fair share of the scoring load. He took big shots, tough lay-ups and found open guys.

Pace may continue his production, bringing up the rest of the offense. But then again, as inconsistent as SU has been, he could retreat into the scoring slump with the rest of the Orangemen.

In the meantime, SU needs Pace more involved in the offense.

‘When we’re all struggling, it can be any game you can get out of a slump,’ Pace said. ‘One person makes a play or has a good game, and then, boom, you’re out of it.’

Last night, Pace broke out of it. If the Orangemen hope to keep winning, they better hope he keeps it up.

Scott Lieber is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at smlieber@syr.edu.

Published on September 8, 2004 at 12:00 pm