Orangemen squeeze Jayhawks, 81-78

New Orleans -- The Syracuse Orangemen were playground players early, a bundle of nerves late. They juked, jammed and barely held on for a victory that gave coach Jim Boeheim his long-awaited championship.\nFreshmen Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara did the scoring, and Hakim Warrick came up with a huge block at the end Monday night to lift the Orange to a thrilling 81-78 victory over Kansas Warrick, who missed two free throws that would have sealed the game with 13.5 seconds left, made up for it by coming from nowhere to swat a 3-point attempt by Michael Lee that would have tied it.\nKirk Hinrich, cold all night, shot an airball at the buzzer and the Orangemen (30-5) ran to the floor to celebrate their first-ever title. Boeheim threw his arms in the air and ran to shake hands with Roy Williams, deprived once again of the championship.\nAnthony showed he is certainly ready for the NBA if he chooses, fighting off a bad back to finish with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. McNamara hit six 3-pointers in the first half to finish with 18 points.\nIn a marquee coaching matchup between Boeheim and Williams, a pair of brilliant tacticians who had never won it all, it was Boeheim who finally broke through, after 27 years coaching at his alma mater.\nSixteen years ago, Syracuse lost by one to Indiana on Keith Smart's game-winner with 4 seconds left on the same Superdome floor. Boeheim said he wanted to get the last 4 seconds right this time, and he did just barely.\n"I think this building kind of owed us one," he said.\nIn the first half, it didn't look as if he'd have to sweat it.\nWhen it was over, bad free-throw shooting killed the Jayhawks (30-8). They missed an amazing 18 of 30. They also never really found the outside touch to force the Orangemen to guard them up high. Hinrich shot 6-for-20 -- 3-for-12 from 3-point range, and missed twice with a chance to tie in the closing seconds.\nInside, Boeheim's 'D' came close to turning Kansas into a one-man show. All-American forward Nick Collison was valiant -- he finished with 19 points and 21 rebounds. But in the end, he simply didn't have enough help against the tall and long Syracuse players and that well-coached defense.\nMcNamara was relentless, unabashedly hoisting shots and making almost all of them. By the end of the first half, the Orangemen led 53-42. The 53 were the most points scored by one team in the first half of a title game.\nBut was McNamara the best player out there?\nAsk any of the three or four players who had the task of guarding Anthony, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, after he took passes at the top of the key. A ball fake here, a dribble between the legs there, a spin or a pull-up 3-pointer -- nothing was out of the question with this guy, and very little of it was stoppable.\nEven with Anthony struggling down the stretch, Kansas couldn't play catchup well enough to tie or take the lead. A great chance came with 14 minutes left when, trailing 61-58, the Jayhawks picked off a bad pass and started rushing downcourt. But Kansas turned it right back over, and Anthony made a 3-pointer to keep the Orange ahead.\nIt was another bitter defeat for Williams, who stayed without the one victory that would round out an otherwise impeccable resume.\nNow, his next job is to decide whether he's interested in the opening at North Carolina, his alma mater, or wants to return to Kansas to try to complete his still-unfinished business.\nHe insisted he would coach the same as he always does in the final, and by the looks of things he did. He also called "foolishness" the notion that a win in this game would make him a better coach. That, for now at least, is still open for debate.