If there was one takeaway from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs Syracuse Orange, it was that the defense showed up on both ends of the court to make a statement to the rest of the ACC, as neither team would surpass 65 points, and the Syracuse Orange would walk away with a 62-55 victory.
The Georgia Tech offense would start out slow, not getting its first made field goal until nearly five minutes into the game, starting 0-6 from the field. The Yellow Jackets defense kept the Yellow Jackets in the game for the rest of the game, and even went into halftime down by one, 25-24.
The second half seen the team’s go back and forth with each other for most of it, with the Yellow Jackets even taking a three-point lead after forward Baye Ndongo made a layup with 11:05 left in the game, but the Orange would put together a masterful five minute stretch in the second half, allowing the Yellow Jackets to score only once in five minutes of action, and went into the final two minutes up 54-48.
The Orange would go up by six with 1:03 left to play, before senior guard Lance Terry would make consecutive free throw attempts with 55 seconds left. After another jumper fell for the Orange, they were up six, but a quick, circus shot three from Lance Terry would bring the Yellow Jackets within a possession to tie the game with 27 seconds left. A foul on the other end would send JJ Starling to the free throw line where he would make both free throws. I three-point miss on the other end by Ndongo would ultimately seal the Yellow Jackets fate and secure the Orange victory.
Terry would lead the team with 18 points, and sophomore guard Nathan George would be the only other Yellow Jackets with more than ten points in the game, finishing with 13.
The Yellow Jackets fall to 8-8 this season, and will be in action again Saturday, as they take on the 11-3 SMU Mustangs.