Georgia Tech claws past Boston College in overtime 73-70 to advance to second day of ACC Tournament

Mar 12, 2014; Greensboro, NC, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets forward Kammeon Holsey (24) and guard Corey Heyward (30) react in the second half. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Eagles 73-70 in the first round at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia Tech’s first game in the ACC Tournament against Boston College started out ugly and ended in similar fashion, but the Yellow Jackets were able to hang on down the stretch in overtime to outlast the Eagles 73-70.

The first three minutes of the game were pretty terrible to watch honestly, and featured both teams trying to prove which was the worse shooting squad. Neither team even scored in the game until the 16:51 mark in the first half when Patrick Heckman knocked down two free throws.

At one point in the game both teams were shooting a combined 2-17:

But after a (long) while, the teams settled in and found their grooves on offense. Georgia Tech finished the first half shooting 40 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3 and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.

The second half featured more of the same, but the 3-point shooting took a dip and Boston College went on an 11-0 run with five minutes left in the half to tie the game back up and force an overtime period.

Things started to like pretty dire for the Jackets with less than a minute to play and down by a point (67-66), but Trae Golden came up with a huge 3-point play with 36 seconds left after driving to the basket, dropping the ball in off the glass and sinking his free throw after picking up the foul. That and Kammeon Holsey’s four free throws in the final seconds would wrap up the game for Georgia Tech and keep their season alive for at least one more day.

The Jackets will take on No. 6 Clemson tomorrow at 9 p.m.We’ll update this post with quotes and more stats later tonight.

Update with stats

• Robert Carter Jr. carried the Yellow Jackets for the entire first half and finished the game with 20 points and 13  rebounds–both numbers led both teams.
• After a slow start Marcus Georges-Hunt really stepped up in the second half. He ended the game with 18 points, five rebounds and two steals. Attacking the rim worked out for him tonight. He was 8-11 from the free throw line.
• It wasn’t the greatest game for Trae Golden, but he did have one of the most important shots of the game. He wound up with 14 points and six assists. The poor shooting early in the game really hurt him (4-13).
• Daniel Miller did a bunch of nothing in this one. He only had five points and five rebounds in 36 minutes on the court. He’s going to have to do better tomorrow if Georgia Tech is planning on making this a three-day trip.