NEW YORK — For the final 78 seconds they stood, because anything less would have been unjust. All 20,057 spectators inside Madison Square Garden rose as one — an amalgam of grey and orange, pro-Syracuse and pro-Georgetown — to soak in the closing seconds of a historic series that no one wanted to see end.

Thirty-three years of hate, of blood, of punches thrown and buildings closed bubbled toward a final head in the World’s Most Famous Arena. For a rivalry that ranks among the fiercest in all of sports, it deserved a finish like this: Syracuse and Georgetown, one more battle, one more war, a tie game in the waning seconds.

But as Michael Carter-Williams sprinted up the court, the final seven seconds melting away, it was as if the basketball gods peered down on the league about to lose its essence and granted fans everywhere one more wish: a miss.

Syracuse (26-8, 11-7 Big East) and No. 5 Georgetown (25-6, 14-4) needed overtime to complete their storied rivalry in the Big East tournament semifinals Friday night, and the No. 19 Orange gutted out an unforgettable 58-55 win. In what will surely be viewed as an instant classic, Syracuse advanced to the championship game due to a smothering defense and the unexpected emergence by a pair of role players.

The Orange will meet No. 4 Louisville, which knocked off No. 24 Notre Dame, in the final on Saturday.

“We were the last team standing,” Syracuse guard Brandon Triche said. “They figured they closed the Carrier Dome and they closed Manley Field House, but we actually were the last team that beat them. That’s all I can say.”

By the time Triche and his teammates stood victorious and Baye Moussa Keita galloped across midcourt arms raised in celebration, a gem of a game had been played. The third game between these two archrivals, and the last they will play as members of the Big East, flipped the script from the previous meetings in which the Hoyas — more specifically Otto Porter — outclassed Syracuse both in the Carrier Dome and at home.

Jim Boeheim tweaked his trademark 2-3 zone defense and asked his centers to play further away from the basket. The goal was to clamp down on Porter, a player that Boeheim said was the best small forward in Big East history, and saddle his teammates with the scoring burden.

Through 30 minutes it worked beautifully, and Syracuse led 45-37 with 9:27 remaining with Keita owning the paint. Porter struggled and his teammates struggled, and the team that was blown out by 22 points in Washington, D.C., a week ago continued with its newfound momentum.

“Our guys really battled and found ways to win,” Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. “You think about how Pittsburgh and Georgetown play us, they’re like the nemesis, the kryptonite, the worst style. We did a really good job and made it a lot more difficult.”

But for this rivalry and this tournament, there had to be one last comeback. It was only right, only proper and the only way to culminate a series defined by Patrick Ewing, Pearl Washington, Gerry McNamara and Dikembe Mutombo.

So back came the Hoyas, scratching and clawing as John Thompson would want them to. Markel Starks, the guard who torched Syracuse less than a week ago, drilled two 3s in the last 10 minutes, and center Mikael Hopkins grinded away on the inside.

A pair of free throws from Porter with seven seconds remaining forced overtime, setting the stage for a final five minutes to decide 33 years of bragging rights.

“This is how everybody expected it to be,” SU forward C.J. Fair said, “a big, tough battle between Syracuse and Georgetown.”

And five minutes later — when the final horn sounded — Syracuse emerged a bit bigger, a hair tougher.

Triche seized momentum on the first possession of overtime, slicing to the basket for a layup that proved to be the winning bucket. The Orange never trailed from that point on, forcing five missed shots while yielding just a single make.

In the final five minutes of hatred, the 2-3 zone stood tall. Starks fouled out, Porter misfired — twice — and Fair came up with the interception of a lifetime. He picked off Porter’s pass with 3.2 seconds remaining, sending Syracuse to the Big East championship game in its final Manhattan soiree.

The fans stood at the end of regulation. They never sat down through overtime. The game deserved a standing ovation, because anything less was unjust.

Said Hopkins: “That’s how it’s supposed to end.”

Published on March 15, 2013 at 9:38 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13