Orange Claims ACC Opener at Va. Tech, 68-66

Saturday, January 3

Blacksburg, Va.

12:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

10-4

Virginia Tech

8-6

Syracuse

Virginia Tech

1/3/2015 2:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Roberson's 17 boards lead Orange

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Sophomore forward Tyler Roberson had his second 17-rebound game of the season and Syracuse (10-4, 1-0) held off a late Virginia Tech (8-6, 0-1) rally to win its league opener, 68-66. The Orange grabbed a lead for good three minutes into the first half and defended a last-second three-point attempt by the Hokies to secure the triumph.

Redshirt junior guard Trevor Cooney had 18 points, graduate student Rakeem Christmas had 18 points and nine rebounds, Roberson accumulated 11 points and junior guard Michael Gbinije finished with 10.

A Tale Of Two Halves – The First
Syracuse used its height advantage to build a 22-point, first-half margin. The Orange was up 19-14 with 12:13 remaining in the first half when it went on a 21-4 run. Sophomore guard Ron Patterson had six points and graduate student Rakeem Christmas and Cooney each had five in the stretch.

By the intermission, Syracuse had a 42-23 lead, thanks in part to a 16-4 advantage on points-in-the-paint and a 26-14 rebounding margin.

The Orange zone defense held the Hokies to 7-of-25 (.280) from the field, including 3-of-11 (.273) on 3-point attempts in the opening half. Virginia Tech had entered the contest shooting .490 and .406, respectively.

Hold On Tight! – The Second
Cooney's fourth 3-pointer of the game had the Orange up 47-30 with 15:42 left. The tide quickly turned and a 14-2 Virginia Tech run had the hosts within five points with 8:30 remaining. A dunk from Christmas put the Orange back up seven but the Hokies answered with five straight points to pull within two, 51-49.

Syracuse momentarily righted the ship when Roberson converted a baseline jumper off a nice pass from Cooney and then added two free throws. Christmas contributed a layup and two free throws, and Gbinije added one from the charity stripe to provide the Orange with a seemingly comfortable, 62-51 margin, with 2:21 left.

Virginia Tech's Will Johnston connected on two long threes and the Hokies began to put Syracuse on the line in a last-ditch attempt to grab the win. Patterson made one-of-two free throws with 13 ticks on the clock for a 68-63 cushion but Ahmed Hill answered with a three-ball a few seconds later. Patterson was fouled again but missed his two free throws and Malik Miller's potential game-winning 3-pointer fell short.

Syracuse had converted 9-of-12 free throws prior to the final 2:30 of play but managed to convert just 7-of-16 down the stretch, allowing the Hokies to stay engaged.

Orange Notes
Roberson also had 17 rebounds when the Orange defeated Louisian Tech on December 14 ... He was the first SU player to reach that board total since Rick Jackson in December 20 ... Christmas scored in double digits for the 13th time in 14 games ... Cooney hit double-digit points for the sixth consecutive outing ... He's averaging 18.3 during that stretch ... Syracuse had just eight turnovers and only two in the first half ... The Orange plays at Georgia Tech on Wednesday, January 7.