SYRACUSE, N.Y. — John Christmas called it the ideal situation. In hindsight, it surely was. The sophomore attackman’s bounce shot with 22 seconds to play lifted No. 4 Virginia past top-ranked Syracuse 16-15 Saturday afternoon before a Carrier Dome crowd of 10,536. The victory was UVa’s first over the Orangemen since a 12-10 decision in the 1999 national title game and its first in the regular season since 1996. “Finally,” said senior A.J. Shannon, who scored four goals to share scoring honors with sophomores Christmas and Joe Yevoli. “It feels great for the seniors to finally win one against these guys. We had been 0-4 against them.” The Cavaliers (2-0) outshot the Orangemen (1-1) 46-44. They won the groundball battle 45-31. Sophomore Jack deVilliers dominated the faceoff, winning 21 of 34 draws (61.8 percent). Junior defenseman Brett Hughes held superstar attackman Mike Powell to two assists. Yet, they found themselves in a 15-all game when SU senior Mike Springer bounced his fifth goal of the game over Tillman Johnson’s shoulder with 1:41 to play. That, according to Christmas, created an enviable situation, especially after deVilliers, voted by the coaches as the team’s most improved player in the off-season, won the ensuing draw. “We talked about not getting too nervous or excited at any point in the game,” Christmas said. “With a minute to play, I thought it was ideal. I was smiling, looking forward to it.” The smile turned to cheers when Christmas, starting from the far corner to the right of Syracuse goaltender Jay Pfeifer, used his speed to gain a half-step on defenseman Solomon Bliss and let loose a bounce shot from 20 yards and Bliss pushed him back toward midfield. It didn’t have a lot of mustard on it, but it eluded the goaltender. “I put a little English on it,” Christmas said. “I think it was a pretty decent shot … and it went in.” That’s more than Powell could say for any of his shots. Hughes blanketed the junior the entire game, keeping his body between the SU player and the goal at all times. “I wish I could tell you what it was,” Hughes said of his success. “I wish I could bottle it and bring it every game. Maybe it just wasn’t his day.” The Cavaliers got a hint it was their day at the tail end of the third quarter, in which they outscored the Orangemen 7-1 after falling behind 9-6. Hughes took possession on an SU turnover with 6 seconds left in the quarter and heaved a long pass toward the SU goal. Yevoli slipped behind a napping Syracuse defense, received the pass all alone in front of Pfeifer and beat the goalie with one second to spare to give UVa a 13-10 lead. Considering the game was eventually decided by one goal, Hughes’ seemingly harmless fling was huge. “I really didn’t see anything,” Hughes said. “You just throw it down there. That’s what you’re supposed to do. I didn’t see him catch it. I know he was behind a wall of people.” “Their defense kind of fell asleep,” Yevoli said. “It was a lucky grab. I caught it, and it went in.” Virginia’s offense slept through most of the first half and trailed 8-6 at the break despite a big edge in time of possession, courtesy of deVilliers’ work at the X. Springer’s man-up goal with 11:12 left in the third made it 9-6, and it appeared that UVa was on the way to its ninth loss against SU in its last 10 tries. Not so fast. Virginia responded with three goals in 58 seconds, two of them by Shannon, to knot the score, and consecutive goals by Christmas gave them five in four minutes and an 11-9 lead. From there, the game settled back into a tense back-and-forth affair that ended with Christmas cashing on his ideal situation. “You know, you almost feel obligated to play a game like this when these two teams get together,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “It was a terrific lacrosse game, especially this early in the season. I like to think it’s a player’s game. There is not a lot of coaching going on when these teams get together early. They just go at it.” Saturday, the Cavaliers went at it better than the Orangemen.

Virginia fans came to University Hall on Saturday night to catch a glimpse of future Cavalier J.R. Reynolds as Oak Hill Academy faced off against Montrose Christian Academy (Rockville, Md.). Reynolds did not disappoint, scoring 16 points against the one of the nation’s top 10 high school teams. The fans also got a chance to see another Cavalier recruit showcase his skills and he was also impressive. With Virginia head coach Pete Gillen and members of the Virginia basketball team in attendance, Linas Kleiza scored 28 points and pulled down 17 rebounds as Montrose Christian upended Oak Hill Academy, 73-65. The Warriors (31-4) had no answer for Kleiza, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound power forward who hails from Lithuania. “[Kleiza] gave us a lot of problems inside,” Oak Hill head coach Steve Smith said. “We had no answers. We couldn’t stop him. I tried three different guys on him.” Virginia is recruiting Kleiza, according to Montrose head coach Stu Vetter. He has narrowed his choice down to six schools: Virginia, Florida State, N.C. State, Missouri, Connecticut and St. John’s. Earlier in the year, he eliminated North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Kansas from his list of potential schools. “He has been recruited by the very best and elite schools,” said Vetter. “Because of the job [the finalists did], he has narrowed it down to those six.” As for Reynolds, who has committed to Virginia, the 6-foot-2 senior hit three 3-pointers to go along with his 16 points in his final high school game. Reynolds says he liked the environment at University Hall. “It was a really good atmosphere,” Reynolds said. “It was a very good crowd; it was more than I expected. They were behind us. It was real good.” Reynolds will be the fifth Oak Hill product to play for Virginia when he comes to Charlottesville next season. “I am real excited about coming here next year,” Reynolds said. “I am going to work hard in the offseason and try to get a winning season here at Virginia.” Oak Hill was led by Marcus Williams, who scored 19 points. Isaiah Swann added 15 points for the Warriors. Kleiza wasted no time getting things going, scoring 11 points in the first quarter as Montrose (19-1) took a 25-17 lead after one. The teams battled back and forth in the second quarter, with each squad putting together a 5-0 run in the period. Consecutive three-point plays from Kleiza helped Montrose extend its lead to nine, 40-31, at the half. Oak Hill cut into the Mustang lead to start the third. The Warriors used two treys to fuel a 12-2 run that cut the lead to one. Oak Hill received back-to-back technical fouls after personal fouls. Kleiza shot all eight of the free throws, hitting seven, as the Mustangs moved the lead to eight. “It kind of takes the starch out of you,” said Smith of the technical free throws. “You fight like crazy to get to that point and we were about ready to get over the hump and maybe put the pressure on them by taking the lead then we put them on the foul line. It would have been interesting had that not happened because it would have been close all the way.” The Warriors never recovered from the free throws. Oak Hill got no closer than seven for the remainder of the game. Churchill Odia put the finishing touches on the game for Montrose with a thunderous two-handed jam with just under 20 seconds remaining. Reynolds hit a late 3-pointer to leave the final tally 73-65.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. If there’s a perception that Pete Gillen doesn’t have control of his basketball team, the Virginia coach put that to rest over the past week. Forget for a moment that the Cavaliers are in free fall, having lost six straight, 10 of their last 14, punctuated by a 73-59 loss to last-place Florida State on Saturday. What really is important here is that Gillen has shown who’s boss. Senior tri-captain Travis Watson, sophomore Elton Brown and sophomore Jermaine Harper all felt the wrath of Gillen on Saturday morning after all three were late for the team breakfast. None of the three started and none of the three contributed significantly in the loss that dropped UVa to 14-13 overall, 5-9 in the ACC. “It’s disappointing,” said Gillen after the game. “We don’t have a lack of talent, but a lack of character. We don’t have a lot of rules: go to class, be on time, do the right thing. We’re not going to let people do what they want to do ... nobody’s bigger than the program.” The veteran coach said there’s a correlation between being late for a team function and being late to get to a pick. “I hate losing more than anyone, but I’m disappointed because we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” said Gillen. “It would be nice to have the veterans doing the leading.” Suspended sentences The latest disciplinary action was one of several this season. Harper and point guard Keith Jenifer were suspended for UVa’s first exhibition game. Only a few days later, Harper was charged with DUI and was suspended for the first five regular-season games. Jenifer was suspended indefinitely from the team after allegedly being involved in an altercation with another student the night that Virginia returned from a loss at Georgia Tech on Feb. 1 and hasn’t played or practiced since. Just prior to UVa’s three-game road trip to Wake Forest, Ohio University and Florida State, Gillen was forced to punish Watson, his team’s preseason All-ACC selection. Watson was among four players to miss a class that Friday before the Sunday game at Wake. All four were commanded to show up to run the following morning. Watson was the only one who didn’t show and was promptly benched for the Wake and Ohio games. Too much to overcome As fragile as this Virginia team has become, missing its leading rebounder, two of its top scorers and another ballhandler who also plays a fair amount of defense, was too much to bear. The Cavaliers led 37-34 at halftime, chiefly because of shooting guard Todd Billet’s 6-for-8 shooting performance (5 of 6 from beyond the arch). Watson blamed Saturday morning’s tardiness on an undisclosed teammate. “I’m a hard sleeper and I didn’t answer the phone. My roommate answered it and went back to sleep, so when the second call came, I looked at the clock and it was 8:30 and I knew we were late,” said Watson. “I didn’t think that I would start anyway.” Brown said that he wasn’t intentionally late. “I was late, so I had to take my punishment,” said Brown. “Coach Gillen is trying to get us ready for the real world and even though I was two minutes late, late is still late.” Brown admitted that he shouldn’t have started but believed he should have played more than four minutes. During that span, he missed the only shot he attempted, grabbed two rebounds and turned over the ball once. “I couldn’t get myself into the flow of the game,” said Brown, who had shown signs of becoming a team leader and elevating his game in recent weeks. “I looked at this loss as part my fault. If I was out there maybe we could have built on that lead and stopped some things from happening in the second half.” Watson didn’t enter the game until there was 6:42 remaining in the first half with UVa holding onto a slim 27-24 lead. He totaled 22 minutes from there on, scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds. Harper played 13 minutes but did not score. All this commotion has left Cavalier fans and outsiders wondering about what’s going on with UVa’s players. Don’t they care anymore? Have they just quit? Just what’s going on here? Watson’s stock has dropped considerably during the past week. Once considered a contender for ACC player of the year, many question whether he will make first team. More importantly, when Virginia needed leadership from its senior star, what kind of a signal did the recent incidents send to his coaches and teammates? “Stuff happened but not on purpose,” Watson said in his defense. “It’s not like we’re out there to lose. If people say I’m not out there leading, I’m still on the sidelines cheering for my teammates. I don’t know what people think about me being a bad egg ... I’ve never thought that.” Brown had recently apologized to a group of more than 100 of the program’s boosters for sometimes failing to hustle in games and pouting on the sidelines when taken out of games. Gillen explained that Brown is an emotional player who, at age 19, is still maturing. An NBA scout told this columnist earlier in the week that he liked Brown’s offensive moves but would like the sophomore a lot better if he could see a slimmed down, disciplined, more hustling version of the Virginia center/forward. “I don’t think people go out and intentionally get Coach Gillen mad or to intentionally lose,” said Brown, who envisions himself of becoming a leader in college ball just as he was in high school. “We’re human. Nobody’s perfect. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes. I learned from it. Next week, I won’t be late.” Meanwhile, the assault charge on Jenifer was dropped the day before UVa played the Seminoles. Gillen said he wasn’t sure what would happen as far as the guard’s future, which is still being evaluated. With all the turmoil and the longest losing streak in Gillen’s five years at the helm of the program, both Watson and Brown don’t believe it’s too late to salvage Virginia’s season. The Cavaliers return home for their final two regular season games against Georgia Tech (winless on the road this season) and Maryland (a team UVa defeated on the road). “We’re capable of playing with anyone if we come to play,” said Watson. “I don’t like losing, but there’s only so much talking you can do. If [talking] sinks in, it sinks in. If it doesn’t, well. I’m doing my part, but I’m not everybody’s momma.” Brown said he apologized to his teammates before Saturday’s game. For this team, it’s time to stop apologizing, grow up and do what the coaching staff expects. Anything less and the Cavaliers will sit home this postseason with a long time to ponder what could have been.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On Saturday, the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center played host to both the Virginia-Florida State basketball game and a boat show. Only one of those events featured a sinking ship and it wasn’t the boat show. Tim Pickett scored a career-high tying 32 points as Florida State downed Virginia 73-59 to send the Cavaliers to their sixth-straight loss. Michael Joiner added 15 points as the Seminoles (13-14, 4-11 ACC) used a 22-4 run to open the second half that erased what had been a 37-34 UVa halftime lead while also erasing any hopes for a Virginia victory. “I thought we played a very good first half and if we defended Pickett a little bit more, then we’d probably be up my more at the half,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen, whose team extended the longest losing streak in his five-year tenure at the school. “I thought we ran out of gas in the second half and the week of travel just caught up to us. We were physically just dead, but give Florida State credit. They played good defense and deserved to win the game.” Virginia (14-13, 5-9 ACC), which was 0 for 7 from the floor with four turnovers in its first 11 possessions of the second half, shot just 35.5 percent for the game. Todd Billet led the Cavaliers with 19 while Jason Clark added 11. Those were the only UVa players to reach double-figures as three key contributors — Travis Watson, Elton Brown and Jermaine Harper — served in-game suspensions for arriving late to the team’s breakfast Saturday morning. Watson, who was reprimanded just last week by Gillen for missing a class and team practice, didn’t enter the game until late in the first half and finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes. Brown, who had started the previous five games, didn’t score in four minutes while Harper was also scoreless in 13 minutes. “They were late for a team function this morning. Elton Brown was late, Travis Watson was late and Jermaine Harper was late,” Gillen said. “It’s a lack of character and that’s disappointing. … We don’t have a lack of talent; we have a lack of character.” The reductions in playing time for that trio had Gillen juggling with his rotation. That led to an unusually early appearance for senior center Jason Rogers, who entered the game with 11:42 left before intermission. Rogers, who had played just seven minutes all season prior to Saturday, had four points in five minutes. Still, Billet staked Virginia to the 37-34 halftime advantage with 17 first-half points. As Gillen noted, that lead could have been more but Pickett scored his team’s last 18 points of the half to keep the margin at just three. “It seems that in the ACC there is always one guy who steps up for his team. We’ve seen that throughout the season for other teams so it was about time for it to happen to us,” said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton. Pickett is now the fifth player this season to score over 30 points against the Cavaliers and the third in the past four games. “We couldn’t stop him. He was sensational. He was just hitting his shots,” Gillen said. Pickett would get help from his teammates in the second half as the Seminoles began their game-breaking run. When that 22-4 spurt ended with a Trevor Harvey dunk with 9:01 remaining, the Seminoles had a 56-41 advantage. They would eventually push that lead to as many 18 at 71-53 with just over a minute remaining. The game was Virginia’s third of the week and Gillen cited some tired legs as a contributing factor in the second half. There was no better example of that than Billet. He was unable to match his first-half performance, as he was 1 of 7 in the second half with two airballs. “He was dead. He had nothing. We’re asking him to be Superman. He was great in the first half, but I think we are asking him to do too much,” Gillen said. Three weeks ago, Virginia was 14-7 after a victory over N.C. State on Feb. 9. At that point, the Cavaliers seemed poised for a possible NCAA berth but now after six-straight losses, several suspensions of Saturday’s variety and the indefinite absence of point guard Keith Jenifer, the Cavaliers are clinging to NIT hopes. Gillen, both visibly and audibly, expressed his frustration Saturday. “I’m disappointed. I’m very disappointed. I hate losing more than anyone. I’m more disappointed that we aren’t doing the things that we are supposed to be doing,” Gillen said. Jenifer’s status. Assault and battery charges against sophomore point guard Keith Jenifer were dropped Friday. The charges stemmed from an altercation with another UVa student on the Corner during the early morning hours of Feb. 2. Jenifer was suspended indefinitely the next day for “conduct detrimental to the team” and has missed the past eight games. Gillen said that the fact the charges have been dropped could affect Jenifer’s status but was not specific about that Saturday. “I’m not sure. We’re going to evaluate it and talk about it. I really don’t know what’s going to happen with Keith,” Gillen said.