Syracuse held a 13-point lead with under nine minutes remaining, but needed a 3-pointer to force overtime before falling to Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum, 101-95. The Orange (12-17, 6-12 ACC) wilted on defense in the extra five minutes, allowing the Hokies (13-16, 8-10) to score on 6-of-8 possessions before being forced to extend the game by fouling. The win snapped VT’s five-game home losing streak despite playing without top scorer and rebounder Tobi Lawal and kept SU from notching consecutive wins since defeating Georgia Tech and Boston College in early January.
Syracuse did a lot of work forcing Tech to come back. The Orange gave the ball away nine times in the second half, which the hosts turned into 14 points. The last four miscues came in the final 8:15 of regulation, when SU held a ten-point lead, and Virginia Tech turned each of them into a basket, erasing most of that margin.
While they shot the ball well, knocking down 54.1 percent of their shots on the day, Syracuse was a sieve most of the day on defense. The Hokies shot 60.7 percent from the field in the game, including 62.9 percent after halftime.
The Orange offense had things going early on the inside, as Eddie Lampkin (six points) and Jyare Davis (four) triggered a 12-6 start with their work near the basket. Adrian Autry sent in reserves shortly after and the lead swelled to 22-11 eight-and-a-half minutes into the game as the bench provided all the scoring in a 10-2 SU run.
Virginia Tech took off on their first run a couple minutes later, hitting a trio of 3-pointers in just over two minutes in an 11-2 run that pulled them within 29-28 and forced Autry to call a time out. Syracuse charged right back with a half dozen points, the last two baskets coming from Lampkin, to reinstate a seven-point lead.
The Hokies got back within three, but a quick half dozen unanswered points gave the Orange a 45-36 lead with under a minute left in the half. A Tech basket clipped the lead to seven, but Lampkin dropped in a lay-up before the horn for a 47-38 SU lead at halftime.
The hosts struck quickly when the action resumed, trimming the gap down to five, but Syracuse responded with a 7-2 burst to put the lead back into double digits at 54-44 three minutes into the second half. Virginia Tech answered right back, hanging the next six points to pull within four.
Kyle Cuffe Jr. authored a personal 7-2 run, pushing the lead out to 61-52, then the Orange added four more points for their biggest lead of the day at 13 points. Once more, the Hokies charged back, posting a 14-1 run a couple minutes later to tie the game at 70 a side with just under five minutes on the clock.
The game turned into a back-and-forth affair with SU scoring, then the hosts matching, until a J.J. Starling 3-point-play was answered with a pair of Tech deuces, putting the hosts up, 78-77. The Hokies forced a turnover, then added a hook shot for an 80-77 lead with 27.8 seconds to play.
Bell shot-faked to get open, but took a dribble that allowed the Tech defender to rotate, then passed to Jaquan Carlos, who missed a corner 3. Syracuse fouled, but the Hokies made just one foul shot. Starling put back his miss, then the hosts added another free throw to make it 82-79 with 4.5 seconds to play. After a time out, Davis inbounded to Carlos, who dribbled into the frontcourt, then pulled up for a deep wing 3, which swirled around and down to force overtime at 82 a side.
The extra session was also started off as a back-and-forth affair. Davis opened overtime with a 3-point-play, but Virginia Tech answered with six points. The Orange crept in front with a Davis lay-up and two Bell foul shots. The Hokies regained the lead with a bucket, then strengthened their grasp on the game with a 3-pointer for a 93-89 lead with just over 90 seconds on the clock.
Twice, SU drew within two points, but they could not get a stop and Tech iced the game by knocking down 6-of-6 free throws in the final 23 seconds.
Davis led the Orange with an efficient 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and a 5-for-5 mark from the line. Lampkin notched his 13th double-double in orange with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Starling matched his scoring output. Cuffe and Bell were factors off the bench, pouring in 13 and 11 points, respectively, the former hitting three 3’s on the day. Carlos fell shy of a double-double with nine points and nine assists.
Jaydon Young finished with a game-high 26 points, including 24 coming after halftime. Ben Hammond had a strong all-around effort of 21 points to go with team highs of seven rebounds and seven assists. Jaden Schutt added 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from long range, while Mylyjael Poteat chipped in with 14 and Tyler Johnson ten.
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