Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets stun 7th-ranked Syracuse Orange, 67-62

Mar 4, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets forward Kammeon Holsey (24) goes up for a shot defended by Syracuse Orange forward C.J. Fair (5) during the first half of a game at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

That. Just. Happened.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were given little chance by anyone (including this space, if we’re honest) to go into the Carrier Dome and knock off the 7th-ranked Syracuse Orange, but when the dust settled after 40 minutes on Tuesday night, that is exactly what Brian Gregory’s team was able to do. Tech was a huge, 14.5-point underdog in the game, but after building a significant lead in the early stages of the second half, the Jackets were able to hold on for dear life in a 67-62 victory.

Tech was highly productive on the defensive end from the opening tip, holding Syracuse to just 23 first-half points in route to an 8-point lead at the break. From there, the Jackets put together their most important stretch of the game in the early stages of the second half, blitzing the Orange with an 11-3 run to grab a 46-34 lead with 13:19 remaining the game.

For the next 9+ minutes, it looked as if Georgia Tech would be able to hold off Syracuse without the threat of a big-time run, but that fairy tale evaporated. The Jackets offense stalled in a major way, scoring just 5 points in a 5-minute period of clock time, and during that drought, Syracuse climbed within 5-points after a C.J. Fair bank shot at the 2:41 mark. Tech’s offense stopped the bleeding when Daniel Miller leaked out for a dunk that would give the road team a 7-point lead with 1:58 remaining, but Syracuse responded when Trevor Cooney finally made a 3 (we’ll come back to this) to cut the lead back to 4 with 1:50 left.

Unfortunately, nothing comes easy for this particular edition of the Yellow Jackets, and both Marcus Georges-Hunt and Robert Carter missed the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities in the final 3 minutes. Carter’s miss gave the Orange the ball with a 4-point deficit and less than 2 minutes to play, and after the two sides exchanged stops, ?? helped ‘Cuse shorten the lead to 61-59 with 34 ticks remaining.

Thankfully, Trae Golden made two free throws after a quick foul, and when the Jackets made a collective stop, Golden put the game out of reach by knocking down two more to give Tech a 6-point lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Syracuse veteran C.J. Fair converted a three with just over 18 seconds left to make things interesting, but Golden (again!) made both at the charity stripe and that was that.

It was a Herculean effort from this Georgia Tech team, and they were led by the frontcourt duo of Daniel Miller and Robert Carter. Miller has been the most consistent player for this team all season, and he was electric here, finishing with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 (!) blocks, and 2 steals. The big man’s rim protection was vital in keeping guys like Tyler Ennis (who finished 7-for-17) in check, and with the big-time effort from Carter (12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) to flank him, it was enough to hold them off.

Trae Golden led the team in scoring (with a hat-tip to his late free throws) with 16 points, and the bench also came up big for the Jackets. Kammeon Holsey had one of his better games of the season with 9 points on 3-4 shooting, and Chris Bolden provided some zone-busting “respect” from the Orange defense while stepping up his all-court game.

The defensive end was the biggest catalyst in the win, holding Syracuse to just 39% from the floor and 29% from beyond the arc. Admittedly, the Orange simply couldn’t get a shot to fall from long distance, but the energy level from the Jackets was fantastic on that end of the floor, and their offense helped out in only committing 9 turnovers throughout the 40-minute war.

One win can’t save a season that has flown off the rails for the most part, but this is by far the best victory of Tech’s season, and it should be celebrated as such. Brian Gregory has a lot of work to do to build the program back to where the Tech faithful would love it to be, but after this performance, everyone associated with the Yellow Jackets program can return back to Atlanta proud.