'Cuse Defense Stalls Georgia Tech, 46-45

Wednesday, January 7

Atlanta, GA

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

11-4, 2-0ACC

Georgia Tech

9-5, 0-2ACC

Syracuse

Georgia Tech

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

1/7/2015 9:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Syracuse's defense comes up big down the stretch to solidify its second ACC win

ATLANTA, Ga. - Syracuse held Georgia Tech to just one field goal on 13 attempts in the final 8:51 of action to take its second win in conference play. The Orange (11-4, 2-0 ACC) defeated the Yellow Jackets (9-5, 0-2 ACC), 46-45, with Rakeem Christmas and Michael Gbinije leading the way.

Defense Supports The Offense

Once again, Christmas led the Orange with 18 points in the game but his eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals that played just as much a factor in the game as his offensive output. Gbinije also was a key contributor in the win, tallying 14 points to go along with his 10 boards, giving the Duke transfer his first double-double of the season.

All together Syracuse combined for 13 assists, seven steals and five blocks in the game while causing 14 Georgia Tech miscues. The zone was giving the Yellow Jackets trouble as they only managed to shoot 26% in the game.

Punch-For-Punch In The First

The opening stanza was neck-a-neck throughout as there were three tie scores, eight lead changes and neither team managed to build a lead larger than four in the half. Syracuse stole the lead heading into the locker room on a Christmas jumper with a tick left on the clock to make the score 29-28.

Syracuse's defense gave Georgia Tech trouble as it created six turnovers and recorded three blocks, two of which were credited to Christmas. The center for 'Cuse led the team with 12 points and had four rebounds.

Gbinije was the other hot handed shooter for 'Cuse, knocking down 10 points with the help of two threes on both his attempts. Gbinije led Syracuse in rebounding in the half with five rebounds.

Chris McCullough matched Christmas' total rebounds in the half while Kaleb Joseph was comfortable from the point, finding teammates for four wide open looks.

A Tight Contest Throughout

It was much of the same in the latter half as the game finished with 14 lead changes as well as nine tie scores.

The Syracuse defense continued to give the Yellow Jackets trouble as it caused four turnovers in the first 7:30 of action, including a stretch in which the Orange held the Yellow Jackets scoreless on eight straight possessions.

Despite the drought the teams remained close in score as neither team could gain a lead of more than four points but with just under nine minutes left in the contest, Syracuse's offense began to click with a 7-0 run to take a 44-41 lead.

The Orange defense took a stand as well, allowing just one field goal in 13 attempts by Georgia Tech in the final 8:51 of play. Unable to score, Georgia Tech was forced to play strong defense as well but Syracuse was able to persevere, hitting its free throws down the stretch to advance to 2-0 in conference play with a 46-45 victory.

(1/7/2015) Syracuse Stings Yellow Jackets