SYRACUSE -- The Weber Warriors knew they were going to have to absorb the best shot from a suddenly reeling Syracuse team.
And the Titans nearly delivered the knockout blow.
However a potential game-tying 3-point hoist by Jordan Jones drifted right and allowed the Warriors to escape with a 49-46 decision, dealing Syracuse its fourth straight loss.
"Every game in league is going to be tough," Weber coach Mark Larsen said. "Teams have scouted you, they know what you do and they know your weaknesses so we just talked about grinding it out possession by possession."
Despite two fouls in the game's opening minutes on big man AJ Wilcox which sent him to the bench, Syracuse opened up a 12-10 lead after the first period. However, the Warriors outscored the Titans by a 16-5 margin in the second to take a 26-17 lead into halftime.
In the third, the Titans started to pick away at the deficit and took the lead at 33-32 with just over seven minutes to play in the game. It was back-and-forth down the stretch.
"It's a game of runs and Syracuse came out and kicked our butts in the third quarter," Larsen said. "They have some tough losses, but they're going to win some league games, I have no doubt.
"I thought our kids did a great job possession by possession for all but about four minutes in the third."
Weber opened up a 45-40 lead on a Hayden Schenck bucket with 1:15 to play, but Syracuse's Jordan Pobanz drained a pair of 3-point shots to pull the Titans to within a point at 47-46 with less than 10 seconds to play.
After Schenck was fouled, he made one of two free throws to put the Warriors up by two, but in the biggest play of the game, Weber's Jake Shaw pulled down the offensive rebound on Schenck's miss.
Shaw had a big night with 18 points and 12 rebounds to go with Schenck's 17 points. Justin Nielsen joined the tandem in double figures with 10.
The Titans were left to wonder what could have been as they converted only 4 of 15 free throws. Pobanz led the way with 14 points, while Brock Anderson added 10.
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