Long game's journey into night a 6-OT Syracuse win

The freight elevator opened and Syracuse players Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris wobbled in, physically and mentally exhausted, heading for a bus to the team hotel.

Also standing there, just after 2 a.m., was Connecticut star A.J. Price, in any other place and time one of their biggest rivals. Without saying a word, the three hugged.

For nearly four hours at Madison Square Garden, their teams had waged an up-and-down, back-and-forth, six-overtime marathon in the Big East tournament. No. 18 Syracuse finally outlasted the third-ranked Huskies 127-117 in a quarterfinal that started Thursday night and ended at 1:22 a.m. Friday _ the second-longest game in Division I …