SYRACUSE — Scoring points should not be a problem for the Syracuse Orange this season with a well-balanced, diverse attack.

Defense, however, will ultimately be the determining factor in just how far SU progresses over the next five months.

The Orange put the clamps on city rival Le Moyne College with a devastating first-half defensive effort and rode that to an easy 85-51 victory over the Dolphins in the season opener Sunday, part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.

Playing exclusively man-to-man defense, the Orange forced the Division II Dolphins to miss 20 of their first 22 shots and turn the ball over 15 times in the opening 20 minutes.

Jim Boeheim’s club scored the first 13 points of the game, netted 14 first-half points off turnovers, and also scored 12 fast-break points courtesy of 10 steals.

“Coach stressed that we needed to keep our defensive intensity for longer periods,” said SU sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn, who scored a team-high 17 points and also contributed five steals and six assists. “The first two (exhibition) games we didn’t go hard enough, maybe about half the time. Today, we were all going 100 percent right from the opening tip.”

SU finished with 19 steals, converted those into 27 points and forced 26 Le Moyne turnovers.

“Le Moyne used a lot of good offensive sets, and that forced us to play better defense,” Boeheim said. “We did a much better job of getting over the screens and talking to each other tonight.”

Junior guard Eric Devendorf, who scored 14 points, said when Flynn sets the defensive tempo like that, “teams can’t run their offense like they want to. The other guys can get into the passing lanes and gamble a little bit more knowing Jonny is going to slow down their offense.”

The defense was essential because SU struggled mightily in the half-court offense once the Dolphins went to a zone defense.

The Orange shot just 5-for-24 from 3-point range, with main shooters Devendorf and Andy Rautins (12 points) going a combined 4-for-14 from the perimeter.

“We have to shoot better,” Boeheim said. “But I would take those shots Andy and Eric missed any time because they were good shots. Down the line, they aren’t going to miss that many.”

Rautins, a junior guard coming back from a knee injury, also established a career high with nine assists. He said that was because “the guys were running the floor and filling the lanes well in transition. That made it really easy for me to get the ball to them.”

Said Boeheim: “Andy can make plays. He’s just not a shooter. He’s a good passer who plays like another point guard.”

Paul Harris also scored 12 points for the Orange, which draw Richmond in the next round of the CBE Classic at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Carrier Dome.

“Richmond will be a great test for us,” Boeheim said. “They run a lot of Princeton stuff, with a back screens, and they shoot it really well.”

Harris said the notion that SU can’t play man-to-man successfully against good teams isn’t true. “We’ve got enough good athletes to play that defense well,” he said. “Besides, it helps us run more and get easier baskets when we aren’t shooting it that well.”

Playing six games over the next 12 days will, in Boeheim’s words, “give us a great opportunity work on lots of things and to get better in several areas. We’ll find out early (this season) just where we are and where we want to be.”

Christopher Johnson led Le Moyne with 14 points. Former Ogdensburg Free Academy star Mike McDonough, a junior center, played five minutes and scored three points for the Dolphins.