Sports books didn’t have the game between #25 Syracuse and Division II Le Moyne on the board on Tuesday but if they had the Orange would have been huge favorites.
The line at the Internet sportsbook would have been so high that it wouldn’t have attracted any interest. What happened on Tuesday in the game was shocking to those at the Internet sportsbook as Le Moyne, a Division II team, upset Syracuse 82-79 in an exhibition game.
Sports books had Christopher Johnson scoring 22 points to lead Le Moyne to one of the biggest upsets in college basketball sportsbooks history. “We’ve got an experienced group,” Le Moyne head coach Steve Evans said. “Did we ever think that a day like this would happen? Probably not. But we put together a game plan. We didn’t want to play Syracuse’s way. We wanted to play our way. It was just one of those days for Le Moyne basketball. The kids will remember this forever.”
Syracuse was led by Wes Johnson, who had 34 points as Internet sportsbook stats showed. It was not enough though as the Orange lost in what was a sportsbooks shocker. Christopher Johnson hit the big shot at the end as sportsbooks noted. “We were sort of out of whack a little bit,” Christopher Johnson said. “Everyone was rushing. But as soon as I caught the ball, I saw an opening and I just let it fly. Luckily, it went in.”
The loss by Syracuse as sports books had it was the first exhibition loss for the team in six years and something that was totally unexpected. “Le Moyne really outplayed us from the beginning of the game to the end,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. Andy Rautins had 13 points for Syracuse as sports books stats showed while Rich Jackson had 10 points for Syracuse. The loss was not a fluke either as sports books noted. “It’s just embarrassing the way we played,” said Rautins, “It’s embarrassing to ourselves and our fans. It wasn’t luck that they won. They came out and beat us fair and square.”
How much this exhibition sports books loss affects the respect Syracuse gets at sports books is unclear. What is clear though at sports books is that the Orange is not a Top 25 team to start the Internet sportsbook season.