Syracuse, N.Y. — The present was on display at Syracuse's annual Orange Madness at the Carrier Dome on Friday, but the past stole the show.
And then a 10-year-old stole everyone's heart.
Most of the fans in attendance turned out to see current Syracuse players such as senior Rakeem Christmas or to get their first glimpse at Orange freshmen Kaleb Joseph and Chris McCullough.
Who knew that former Syracuse stars such as Pearl Washington, Lawrence Mote and John Wallace would put on a show in the Legends Game?
The Legends Game also included Eric Devendorf, Rafael Addison and Preston Shumpert. Roosevelt Bouie and Jim Lee coached the Blue team, while Billy Owens guided the White team.
» Photos from the scrimmages and Legends Game
The Blue team won 27-25 as Terrence Roberts rebounded Wallace's missed 3-pointer and then dunked as time ran out.
The game was special even for those involved. Shumpert played at Syracuse from 1997 to 2002. At one point, he found himself guarding Pearl Washington.
"I'm guarding Pearl?'' Shumpert said. "It was a throw-back dream.''
Devendorf and Wallace scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Blue team. Pearl dished to Wallace for the potential game-winner. Wallace had hit the game-winner during the last Orange Madness Legends Game, which took place during the NBA's 2009 lockout.
"I gotta make sure I get the ball to my guys,'' Washington said. "All that matters is we won the game.''
Nick Trivelpiece scores
If the Syracuse legends stole the show, then Nick Trivelpiece stole everyone's heart.
The 10-year-old Trivelpiece has been a part of the Syracuse basketball program since the 2009-10 season. Trivelpiece suffers from optic glioma, a type of cancer that affects the optic nerve and causes people to lose their vision. With 15 seconds left in the Syracuse men's team scrimmage, Trivelpiece entered the game. He took the inbounds pass and, with a little guidance from SU senior Trevor Cooney, dribbled toward the basket.
Trivelpiece missed the layup, but Cooney got the ball back to him and Trivelpiece sank his second attempt to help the White team to a 35-28 victory.
As the final buzzer sounded, Rakeem Christmas scooped up Trivelpiece, plopped him on his shoulder and then carried him off the court.
Was that Jim Boeheim or Brad Pitt?
Brad Pitt stars in the upcoming movie "Fury," the story of a group of soldiers who are in a tank unit during World War II.
On Friday night, Boeheim took his turn as Pitt's stunt double by riding into the Carrier Dome in an armored vehicle.
The military ride had two purposes. It reinforced Syracuse's relationship with Fort Drum, and it also accentuated Boeheim's involvement with the United States Olympic basketball team.
Boeheim got out of the armored vehicle wearing his USA Basketball warm-up suit. As he addressed the fans, he showed off the gold medal that the U.S. team won this past summer at the FIBA World Cup in Spain.
Then Boeheim unzipped his warmup top and revealed a Syracuse T-shirt.
"Under the blue shirt,'' Boeheim told the crowd, "we're all Orange.''
The Orange-White scrimmage
The Syracuse players divided into two teams for a 16-minute scrimmage.
The White team consisted of Kaleb Joseph, Trevor Cooney, B.J. Johnson, Tyler Roberson and Rakeem Christmas. The Orange squad had Ron Patterson, Michael Gbinije, Christian White, Chris McCullough and Chinonso Obokoh.
In the first half, the Orange team took to the White squad and led 12-10 at the break. Gbinije paced the Orange team, scoring six of his 10 points in the opening period.
Christmas dominated the second half, scoring 12 points. He finished the game with 16 points and was the clear difference between the two teams.