Clemson’s Comeback Bid Falls Short at the Buzzer

BROOKLYN —  Clemson University Men’s Basketball erased a 14-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but Virginia Tech’s Darius Maddox made a left-wing three-pointer as time expired to give the Hokies a 76-75 victory in the ACC Tournament Second Round at the Barclays Center. Tenth-seeded Clemson fell to 17-16 with the loss and will await its postseason fate, while seventh-seeded Virginia Tech improved to 20-12 on the season. 

PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) led four Tigers in double-figures with 16 points. Chase Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) scored 13 points, Hunter Tyson (Monroe, N.C./Piedmont) had 12 and a team-high seven rebounds, and David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio/First Love Christian Academy) also added 12 points before fouling out late.

Trailing 59-50 with 5:10 to play, Clemson went on a 14-2 run over the next four minutes, taking the lead on a Nick Honor (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland) three-pointer in front of the Clemson bench. After a Virginia Tech three from Storm Murphy, Hall would hit a 10-footer with 7.7 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime. Clemson hit its final seven shots in regulation. 

In the extra period, Clemson twice thwarted three-point leads from the Hokies, taking a two-point lead with 30.4 seconds to play. The teams traded free throws and Virginia Tech took the ball out under its own basket with 6.8 seconds to play, trailing by two. Maddox dribbled up court, and let go of a 25-footer over Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J./The Patrick School) as time expired for the one-point win. 

Clemson hit 28-of-60 (.467) from the field, including eight three-pointers, and turned the ball over just seven times in 45 minutes. The two teams had met just five days prior in Littlejohn Coliseum, a 63-59 Clemson victory.