SYRACUSE - Almost every time Siena tried to rally against Syracuse, Gerry McNamara stepped in and deflated the Saints.

McNamara broke out of his shooting slump, hitting six 3-pointers and scoring a season-high 22 points Friday night, and No. 17 Syracuse beat Siena 96-77 to snap a two-game losing streak.

It was about time for McNamara. The lone senior on the Orange was 11-for-45 on 3-pointers entering the game, including an 0-for-10 outing against Cornell in Syracuse's second game of the season.

“I've felt really good shooting the ball all year. Tonight, I got a little bit better looks than I've been getting,” said McNamara, who was 6-for-11 from long range. “When I get open looks, my percentage is going to go up.”

It marked the eighth time since the last game of McNamara's freshman year - when he drained six 3s in the first half against Kansas to spur the Orange to the 2003 national championship - that he has hit six or more 3s in a game. He boosted his career total to 314.

McNamara, who had nine assists and one turnover, also moved past Dave Johnson into 13th place all-time in scoring at Syracuse with 1,626 points.

“Gerry did the things he's got to do,” coach Jim Boeheim said. “He didn't force anything. I don't think he took a bad shot.”

It was the seventh victory in the series without a defeat for Syracuse (4-2), which was coming off losses to No. 14 Florida and Bucknell. Siena (0-2), which opened its season Monday with an 82-77 road loss to Penn, never had a chance after leading briefly at the outset.

Terrence Roberts had 18 points, Demetris Nichols had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Eric Devendorf had eight points in his first career start.

Antoine Jordan led the Saints with 29 points.

Syracuse faltered at the start, and Siena scored eight straight points to gain an 8-2 lead. Jordan started the run with a three-point play and set up Mensah for a layup before David Ryan finished it with another layup.

Siena, which missed its first four 3-pointers, scored its first seven baskets on layups as Syracuse used its press extensively for the first time this season and extended its zone to thwart the Saints' long-range shooters.

A pair of 3s by McNamara and one each by Devendorf and Andy Rautins led the Orange on a 21-5 run that gave them a 23-13 lead with 12:09 left. By the time Jordan hit a baseline jumper with 8:34 remaining in the first half, the Orange had built a 15-point lead against the overmatched Saints, who started the game with four guards.

“Our main weakness in the first half was defensive transition,” Jordan said. “They got out and made a lot of 3s. But on the whole we did good. We played as hard as we can. We're still confident. It's a good learning experience for everybody.”

A driving layup by Nichols midway through the half boosted the Syracuse lead to 34-19, but Siena rallied with a 10-0 run, getting 3-pointers from Tay Fisher and Jordan to move within 34-29 with 5:56 left.

McNamara, Nichols and Devendorf each hit a 3 in the closing minutes to put the Orange up 52-37 at the break.

It was more of the same in the second half. When Siena made a run, McNamara did his thing.

After Jordan's three-point play moved the Saints within 57-47 with 14:15 left, McNamara drained a 3 from the right corner. And after two free throws by Jordan less than a minute later again narrowed the lead to 10, McNamara hit another 3 from the right corner.

“He's as crafty a guard as you're going to see. He just seemed to find the gap,” said Siena coach Fran McCaffery, in his first year with the Saints. “We weren't identifying him, and that's unacceptable.

“Any time you go on the road and play a team of this caliber, you want to limit the other team's best player, and we did not do that tonight. Our focus on him was not what it should have been.”