Syracuse forces OT but ultimately falls to Virginia Tech
March 1 - Ben Hammond poured in 21 points and his 3-pointer with 1:36 to play in overtime proved to be a dagger as Virginia Tech won 101-95 in an Atlantic Coast Conference thriller on Senior Day in Blacksburg, Va.
Jaydon Young led all scorers with 26 points as the Hokies (13-16, 8-10) put a dent in Syracuse's ACC tournament hopes.
Jaden Schutt poured in 20 on 6-of-7 shooting, Mylyjael Poteat finished with 14 and Tyler Johnson added 10.
Jyare Davis led Syracuse (12-17, 6-12) with 21 points while Eddie Lampkin came through with his 13th double-double of the year, scoring 16 and grabbing 12 rebounds.
JJ Starling chipped in 16 points while Kyle Cuffe Jr. and Chris Bell scored 13 apiece for the Orange, who led 65-52 with 10:59 to play in regulation but couldn't hold on as they fell to 3-7 in true road games.
Syracuse nearly lost in regulation but a 3-pointer from Jaquan Carlos with a second left tie the game and forced OT.
The Orange went to halftime with a 47-38 lead and stretched their cushion to 54-44 after Bell drilled a 3-pointer with 17 minutes left.
Virginia Tech shot just 3-of-8 to start the second half but got a huge long-range shot from Schutt with 15:13 left that cut the Hokies' deficit to 54-50.
Cuffe came up big, though, drilling a 3-pointer and scoring off a layup as the Orange pulled in front 61-52 and forced the Hokies to burn a 30-second timeout at the 13:10 mark.
Starling's jumper nudged the lead back to double digits for the Orange at 63-52 with 11:49 to go. But Virginia Tech didn't go away quietly and a 9-0 run late allowed the Hokies to tie the game at 70-70 thanks to a layup by Johnson with 4:42 left.
Hammond's two free throws for a 97-93 edge with 23 seconds left iced the game for the Hokies, who won for the second time in their last five games.
Syracuse owned the first half and shot a sizzling 65.5 percent (19-of-29) from the field as it went into halftime with a nine-point edge after Lampkin scored as time expired.
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