SYRACUSE, N.Y. — We’re not supposed to do it … after 45 years at the Times Herald, I’m all too aware that we’re not supposed to root.

But on Friday night at the Carrier Dome, as St. Bonaventure’s basketball team desperately tried to hold on to what had been a 13-point second-half lead against Syracuse, my bias kicked it.

Oh, I wasn’t cheering, but when the Bonnies prevailed 60-57 in overtime, as LaDarien Griffin blocked the Orange’s desperation bid for a game-tying trey, there was a reserved fist pump.

You see, I’ve lived the frustration Bona has endured over the last 42 seasons.

Since 1975, the Bonnies and Orange had met 25 times and Syracuse won 22 of them, including the last 14 straight.

I’ve covered every one of them and was often annoyed with the arrogance.

St. Bonaventure had never won in 10 tries at the Carrier Dome and hadn’t beaten the Orange since the 1980-81 season. That 74-71 loss at the Reilly Center rankled coach Jim Boeheim so much he fumed after the defeat that he was never coming back … and he’s kept his word.

The domination began in 1975 when then-coach Roy Danforth won three times when the Orange were playing in quaint Manley Field House.

Then Boeheim took over and, until last night, had handled the Bonnies 19 times in 22 games.

The wins?

There was the classic in 1977 at the RC when Essie Hollis dropped 37 on Syracuse – he’d have had 45 if the three-point field goal had existed then – in a 91-84 victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the score.

Then came the 70-69 triumph at Rochester’s then-War Memorial that propelled the Bonnies to the 1978 NCAA Tournament.

Finally, there was the victory in ‘81 that caused Boeheim to bid Olean adios for good.

Then came last night.

Syracuse came in at 10-1 but with a short bench, some banged up players and a lower talent level than usual (the Orange were ranked 38th by the AP and 35th by USA Today) and the Bonnies, 9-2, seemed perfectly positioned for an upset.

And they pulled it off in the most amazing fashion.

Bona, which led by 13 with under 11 minutes to play, went almost the final 17 minutes, including overtime, with only one field goal. They scored oa mere 24 points after intermission (six field goals and 11 free throws), missed a numbing 16 layups … and still won.

Afterward, Bona coach Mark Schmidt was euphoric.

“You come here and hear all the stories … St. Bonaventure is 0-10 and we haven’t won since 1981,” he said, pointing out, “it’s a legacy game for our guys … when we’re long gone, Bonaventure (fans) will be talking about this game.

“People talk about that NIT (Championship, 1977) and the Final Four team (1970) … St. Bonaventure is rich in tradition and to be able to do something like this … something that’s special, it will go down in the record books.”

And there were plenty of Bona fans, in the crowd of 20,976, who saw it in person.

“At times it felt like it was a home game tonight … it was loud,” Schmidt said of the atmosphere.

Indeed, several times when calls went against the Bonnies, the boos were as loud as those from the Syracuse faithful as were the “Let’s go Bonas” chants.

“Syracuse has their following,” Schmidt admitted, “but it was tremendous with the Bonaventure people that came. It’s a small Franciscan school that loves basketball and for them to come out the way they did and for us to give them a Christmas present is a special memory.”

He added of the fans, “It’s a passion. One of the reasons why I took this job 11 years ago was the commitment they have to basketball and the love that the alumni have for this great game. Wherever we go, whether it’s a small town or a big city, we always have a great following. And I’m happy we could give the people that came a good showing.”

It was more than a “good showing,” given the history, it was a win for nearly the last four decades.

“We have a good program and we’ve had some success and this was a great night for Bonaventure basketball ,” Schmidt said. “Syracuse is the team that everybody tries to knock off and the small school from Olean did it tonight. We’re proud of what we accomplished and it’s good, not just for our program and the alumni, it’s good for our school.

“It’s such a rich tradition and for a school of St. Bonaventure’s size to come in here and do what we did, I think that speaks volumes. It’s just a good feeling to do something that somebody hasn’t done in a long time.”

Or, in this case, never.

(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald)