Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Dorenzo Hudson made a lay-up with five seconds left and the Hokies came up with a defensive stand on the final possession to outlast Boston College 63-62 in an ACC game played Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum.
With the win, Tech moved to 15-3 overall on the season, 2-2 in the ACC. BC fell to 11-9, 2-4.
Boston College took a 62-59 lead on two free throws by Reggie Jackson with 29.4 seconds left, but the Hokies cut the lead to one on two free throws by Malcolm Delaney with 22.8 seconds remaining.
The Hokies then trapped BC’s Biko Paris and Jeff Allen forced a jump ball, with the possession arrow pointed the Hokies’ way. Following a timeout, Tech worked the ball inside to Victor Davila, who went up for a shot, but was stripped. Hudson grabbed the loose ball and laid it in with five seconds to go.
“I was just in the right spot at the right time,” Hudson said. “We tried to get the ball into Victor and he made a move, but he got it [the ball] hit off his knee and I was there for the lay-up.”
The clock read 9.2 seconds when Hudson made the shot. But apparently the clock had stopped at some point. The officials reviewed the play and set the clock at five seconds.
BC had called a timeout to set up a final play. As Jackson dribbled up the court, though, he ran into teammate Joe Trapani and the ball bounced off Trapani’s leg. Allen grabbed the loose ball as the horn sounded to preserve Tech’s victory.
“You need to win a game or two like that to do something special,” Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said. “That’s what I told the guys. It’s kind of ironic that last year at Boston College, we lost on the exact same play. To try and do something special over the length of the season, you’ve got to win and you’ve got to get lucky.
“The resiliency we showed and staying the course is something I’m proud of. We talked about this heading into the season of finding something outside ourselves to win a close game. Obviously, this was a big one because our next two are on the road.”
Hudson carried the Hokies on a day when Delaney, the ACC’s leading scorer, struggled from the floor. Hudson scored a game-high 18 points, hitting 7-of-15 from the floor. Delaney had 13, but hit just 4-of-15. The Hokies shot just 38.6 percent from the floor for the game.
Jackson led BC with 15 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor. Three players scored 10 points for the Eagles – Corey Raji, Rakim Sanders and Dallas Elmore. BC shot 55 percent from the floor – the best by a Tech opponent this season. But the Eagles turned the ball over 20 times.
“We were plus-11 in turnovers,” Greenberg said. “That’s why we won a one-point game.”
The Hokies now hit the road for their next two games, starting with a Thursday contest in Charlottesville against Virginia. Tip-off for the game is slated at 7 p.m.