SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Even without two of their best players, the La Salle Explorers made No. 9 Syracuse work for a victory.

The Orangemen had to rally with a nine-point run at the end of the first half to open a lead Wednesday night, then eventually wore down the Explorers for a 68-52 victory.

	Syracuse's Etan Thomas scored 14 points and helped the Orangemen take a commanding lead early in the game.

Ryan Blackwell had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Jason Hart added 19 points as Syracuse remained unbeaten after eight games, all at home.

"They were well-prepared for us," said Hart, who also had eight assists and three steals. "They did a lot of things that we knew they were going to do. We just tried to limit them."

La Salle (6-2) played without senior guard Donnie Carr and starting center Garrett Bragg. But the Explorers hung in behind the inspired play of Rasual Butler and Victor Thomas, who combined for 42 points and 23 rebounds.

"We wanted to come in here and play them tough," said Butler, who was 8-for-26 shooting. "We thought we had a good chance to win."

Syracuse, playing its first game in two weeks, built an 11-point lead in the first seven minutes behind the hustling play of Hart, who scored the Orangemen's first two baskets and set up the third, an easy layup by Etan Thomas.

A fast-break layup by Damone Brown off a steal and feed from Hart capped a 9-0 run that gave Syracuse a 17-6 lead with 13:39 left.

Undaunted, the Explorers came back with an 11-4 run behind Victor Thomas, who scored 12 points in the half. His follow tip-in pulled La Salle within 23-19 with 5:07 left and a 3-pointer by Julian Blanks tied the game at 23-23 with 3:18 left.

Etan Thomas hit a 15-foot jumper from the top of the key to break the tie and send Syracuse on its run to close the period. Tony Bland hit a 3-pointer and two foul shots, and Brown had a follow-up tap-in to put Syracuse ahead 32-23 at halftime.

"When it was tied at 23 with 3:40 to go, we just got out of sync," La Salle coach Speedy Morris said. "It was tough being down by nine at halftime. But the effort was there. We outrebounded them (42-39), give us credit for that. We're a little short (on players), and the guys got a little tired at the end."

Carr, who leads the team in scoring with 20.3 points per game, missed his second straight game because of pneumonia and Bragg was out with a fractured foot.

"Carr really makes everybody better," Morris said. "You've really got to play him. Without him, they weren't worried about (Anwar) Wilson, they weren't worried about (James) Jordan, so they're playing 5-on-3."

La Salle didn't make its first substitution until Mike Pidhirsky replaced Jordan with 11:42 remaining in the game -- after Hart's four-point play had given Syracuse a 45-30 lead.

The Explorers got no closer than nine points the rest of the game.

Etan Thomas returned to the Syracuse lineup after sitting out two games with a sprained ankle and had 14 points and seven rebounds and Bland finished with 13 points.