MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Kurt Rambis knows his first year coaching the young and rebuilding Minnesota Timberwolves is going to be a long one.

He said before his first game that, above all else, he wants to see his players show their fans that they won't quit and will play hard until the final buzzer.

Rookie Jonny Flynn clearly has been listening.

Flynn scored 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Wolves erase a 19-point deficit and Damien Wilkins' putback at the buzzer lifted Minnesota to a 95-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.

"I liked the way our guys finished the ball game with aggressiveness," Rambis said. "They didn't quit. They felt like they had an opportunity to win the ball game even when they were down 15. I admire that in the guys. So I was very proud of them that they fought back to win the ball game."

Minnesota trailed by 16 points with less than 7 minutes to play. But Flynn scored 11 points the rest of the way and the Timberwolves closed the game on a 24-6 run to steal the victory.

"He just kept attacking and the referees just had to call fouls," said center Al Jefferson, who was held to nine points and four rebounds. "I tip my hat off to him. He's the reason we won the game."

New Jersey scored just one field goal in that span, committed five turnovers and allowed seven offensive rebounds to the charging Wolves.

Brook Lopez had 27 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks for the Nets. But he didn't score in the final period and Jefferson blocked a shot with 25 seconds to go that would have given New Jersey the lead.

"We just got kind of careless with the ball," Lopez said. "I definitely did. I turned the ball over three or four times. The last little span ended up costing us the game, obviously."

Many questioned why the Timberwolves chose Flynn, a point guard out of Syracuse, with the sixth overall pick immediately after taking Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio at No. 5.

Now they know.

With Rubio playing over in Spain, Flynn was relentless in taking the ball to the basket in the final period. He either scored on his drives to the hoop or wound up at the foul line, where he made 8 of 10 free throws in the game.

"Can't be scared of anything," said Flynn, who is generously listed at 6-foot. "Especially a little guy like me. All we have is a big heart."

Devin Harris had a rough shooting night for the Nets. He managed just 14 points on 4 for 13 shooting to go with eight assists and six rebounds.

The Nets led by 19 points midway through the third quarter, with the 7-foot Lopez bullying the smaller Timberwolves on the low block.

But Minnesota ripped off a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull within four at 87-83 with 4 minutes to go.

"It just clicked in," Rambis said. "The light started turning on for everybody."

Yi Jianlian had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets and rookie Terrence Williams added 15 points and 10 boards in his first game.

Like the Timberwolves, the Nets are rebuilding with an eye toward the summer of 2010. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to buy 80 percent of the team, and the Nets could be a major player in what is expected to be a banner free agent season.

Until then, coach Lawrence Frank is working with a young team that does have some nice pieces in Harris, Lopez and Williams. The coach said he saw his team lose its poise when things got tight, which is typical of excitable youngsters.

"These are hard lessons, but the lesson is try to maintain your poise," Frank said. "Teams are going to make runs, and it's how you respond to them, and we obviously didn't respond well tonight."

Notes: Nets reserve F Jarvis Hayes injured his left hamstring in the first quarter and did not return. ... The collapse prevented New Jersey's first win at Target Center since Nov. 23, 2002. ... The newest Timberwolf, center Nathan Jawai, was inactive for the game. He was acquired in a trade from Dallas last week and Rambis said he could see action against Shaquille O'Neal and Cleveland on Friday.

Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - The Syracuse Orange did its best to make fans forget about the departures of Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris – the team’s leading scorers from a year ago. Ten different Orange players scored, as SU easily took care of Cal State LA 97-54, in its first exhibition of the 2009-2010 season.

Freshman James Southerland led the way with 19 points, shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field, and 5-5 from 3-point range. Junior forward/center Rick Jackson added a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds), while Scoop Jardine, who sat out last year while recovering from surgery, scored 10 and dished out 8 assists.

Junior swingman Wesley Johnson – a transfer from Iowa State who sat out last year, while still practicing with the team – had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Freshman Brandon Triche (Jamesville-DeWitt) started at point guard and finished with 8 points and 3 assists. Senior forward/center Arinze Onuaku – who had knee surgery during the offseason – had 10 points and 9 rebounds.

 SU’s next exhibition is Tuesday, November 3^rd at 7pm against Le Moyne College. The regular season begins November 9^th against Albany.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Delone Carter gained a career-high 170 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns, Greg Paulus hit Marcus Sales for an 11-yard score and Syracuse beat Akron 28-14 on Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak.

Syracuse (3-4), which had lost two straight Big East games, avenged a 42-28 loss to the Zips a year ago in the Carrier Dome in the first-ever meeting between the teams. It was the fifth straight loss for Akron (1-6).  Carter, who also had a career-high 30 carries, broke open a tight game with his third score. He broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and raced 53 yards down the right side to the Akron 9, then scored two plays later on a 5-yard run.

The victory kept Syracuse in the hunt to reach six wins and become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2004.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah Jazz have waived forward Ronald Dupree and guard Paul Harris.

Harris was an undrafted free agent out of Syracuse who did not play in the preseason because of a sprained right ankle which he injured before training camp.

Dupree has played in 154 regular season NBA games with Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota and Seattle. He played in seven preseason games for the Jazz, averaging 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds.

The cuts Thursday trimmed Utah's roster to 14, including three who are out with injuries. Shooting guard C.J. Miles had surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his left thumb two weeks ago and forward Matt Harpring is still bothered from an infection that developed after surgery on his right ankle in the summer of 2008.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Doug Marrone was glad to have a bye week to try to forget about the Orange's two-game losing streak.

Nice try.

"If we continue to play the way we're playing, every team is dangerous," Marrone said Monday as he turned his focus to Saturday's game against Akron (1-5). "I want to make sure we get on track. I want to make sure our football team understands that we have to concentrate on what we do and how we execute."

Marrone, halfway through his rookie season as head coach, said he separates the season into quarters to gauge where the team is in relation to preseason goals.

"We've already had the first quarter and second quarter. We're not where we want to be," Marrone said. "We're going into the third quarter, this is where we need to be to reach our goals. We talk to the team about that quite a bit. I like to make sure everyone understands exactly where we're going. We all know what we need to get to become bowl-eligible without saying it."

The Orange (2-4, 0-2 Big East) are heading in the wrong direction for that. After a solid 2-2 start that easily could have been better, they have plummeted to the Big East basement, tied with Louisville and Rutgers after consecutive home losses to South Florida and West Virginia. The Bulls forced seven turnovers in their 34-20 victory.

"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot, and we have to get over things," Marrone said. "And we have to know if something negative comes out in the game, we have to be strong enough mentally to be able to come back."

In Syracuse's 34-13 home loss to West Virginia nine days ago, just about everything went wrong, most glaringly the performance of quarterback Greg Paulus. He sat the second half after going 5 for 9 for 30 yards with one interception.

Marrone affirmed after the game that Paulus would remain the starter and has not changed his mind. Marrone said the week off allowed the former Duke point guard to work more on fundamentals instead of trying to master the playbook. Paulus threw six interceptions in the past two games - two were by defensive linemen - but still has a completion average of 63.9 percent, tops in school history for a single season.

"I've tried to tell Greg, he's such a competitor, just let things happen and not try to force anything," Marrone said. "We've gotten ourselves in trouble at times trying to force some things. Sometimes, you put yourself in a position as an athlete where you force things that just aren't there. But we're excited. He's growing every day."

Marrone said he was pleased that backup quarterback Ryan Nassib gained some experience in playing the second half against the Mountaineers. Nassib, a sophomore, threw for two touchdowns, the first of his career.

"We're happy where we are," Marrone said. "We just want to make sure that next year we have someone that has some type of playing experience."

NOTES: Ryan Bartholomew will start at center against Akron in place of injured Jim McKenzie. Tight end Cody Catalina is healthy again and will play. ... Senior wideout Mike Williams ranks sixth nationally with 118 receiving yards per game and is tied for seventh with 7.5 receptions per game.

LaFayette (WSYR-TV) - The kids at LaFayette High School are back at it again.

We've seen them wear pink jerseys during games, we've seen them hold charity car washes – and Thursday, a charity basketball game is on tap to raise money for Coaches vs. Cancer.

Even better, they're getting some help from former SU star Lazarus Sims, who will take part in the exhibition as a special celebrity player.

Thursday's event will be held at LaFayette High School starting at 7:30 p.m. A donation of $2 per person will be taken at the door.