After scoring Syracuse’s first four points of the second half at the rim, Dajuan Coleman found himself at the top of the key with the ball in his hands and the game’s momentum at his fingertips.

There was an open driving lane to his left, if he could get around 7-foot-3 center Boris Bojanovksy. There was even more space in the paint, if he could balance his momentum while lumbering around Bojanovksy’s outstretched right arm. There was a rising cheer in the Carrier Dome — the kind that made you think the guy with the ball may have played his high school hoops down the road — and it was about to get even louder.

Coleman waited a few beats, made a small head fake then bounded toward the rim with two thundering steps. He flicked up a left-handed layup that nicked the square of the backboard and fell through the net. The center’s personal 6-0 run to start the second half turned a three-point halftime lead into a nine-point cushion, and it was the springboard Syracuse (17-8, 7-5 Atlantic Coast) needed in an 85-72 win over Florida State (16-8, 6-6) in the Carrier Dome on Thursday night.

From there, Coleman assisted on the Orange’s next basket before picking up his third foul and exiting to a standing ovation. His final line, on its own, was a mildly impressive eight points, three rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes played. But in the 2 minutes and 33 seconds after halftime, Coleman accounted for all of SU’s points and helped it build a lead the Seminoles could never overcome.

“It was fun,” Coleman said. “We got a good lead out of that and I think I got everybody going after that too.”

For the first 20 minutes, Coleman bumbled up and down the floor and was lethargic on both ends. He made 1-for-4 shots, one of those misses coming on the backend of a crisp no-look pass from Frank Howard. He was a big reason why FSU collected 10 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points in the first half. Coleman walked into the halftime break with two points, two rebounds and something to prove.

In the locker room, Malachi Richardson said that SU head coach Jim Boeheim “got on Dajuan a little bit.” Boeheim wanted Coleman to be more aggressive with the ball in his hands and on the glass, and he let the center know that the Orange needed more out of him.

And it got more, and then some.

“Dajuan gave us a big start to the second half,” Boeheim said. “… Those were all good momentum plays.”

First it was a two-handed dunk on a feed from Michael Gbinije. Then a second-chance layup after grabbing a rebound behind Bojanovksy. Next was the running layup down the left side of the lane and then the laser-like pass to a cutting Malachi Richardson to top it all off.

For much of this season, Coleman has battled the rust of back-to-back knee surgeries and watched freshman Tyler Lydon play a bulk of his minutes in the middle of the 2-3 zone. But for 2 minutes and 33 seconds in front of 22,506 screaming fans, the big man from nearby Jamesville-Dewitt (New York) High School looked every bit like the starting center SU had before the injuries. Before 22 months away from the court. Before Coleman became a game-by-game question mark and his position turned into a void to fill.

When he gathered his momentum after finishing that layup at the rim, his final points of the night, the game stopped for a second and Coleman sauntered to half court. Richardson screamed “Let’s go!” in his face and smacked his hand. Trevor Cooney wrapped him in a quick bear hug and, only after the Orange formed a zone on the other end with Coleman at the center, did he unleash his emotion and pump his hands in the air for more crowd noise.

Twenty-four seconds later, Coleman committed a touch foul and walked to the bench to a standing ovation. He gave every coach, teammate and manager a high-five after stepping off the court. Then he plopped into a seat next to Boeheim, pulled on an orange warmup shirt and wrapped a white towel around his neck.

Boeheim tapped Coleman’s knee and said “Good job, Dajuan,” and 50 minutes later the final scoreboard indicated the same thing.

“D.C., he’s such a good guy, he looks intimidating but he’s such a good guy,” Gbinije said. “We know it’s tough not to play for two years, especially me I know it’s tough not to play for a year and be expected to play right away, it’s tough. But we knew he could get it going. He’s a really good player.”

Published on February 11, 2016 at 10:58 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse