Fighting Peaches: Georgia Tech basketball upsets Virginia 1.9.15

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Playing in front of a near sellout crowd, the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team notched its biggest win of the season, defeating third-ranked Virginia at home 68-64 on Saturday afternoon in an ACC contest.

Quinton Stephens, Adam Smith and Nick Jacobs each had a team-high 16 points each for the Yellow Jackets (11-5, 1-2 ACC) in the victory. Georgia Tech shot 43.6 percent from the field and made eight three-pointers. The Yellow Jackets held the rebounding advantage 41-29 led by James White’s game-high nine boards.

Virginia (12-3, 1-2 ACC) was led in scoring by a game-high 19 points from Malcolm Brogdon while London Perrantes (13) and Anthony Gill (11) were also in double figures. The Cavaliers shot 40.4 percent in the game, struggling from the three-point line only making four out of 18 attempts.

Leading 35-24 at the start of the second half, the Yellow Jackets stayed ahead of Virginia with the score at 47-38 with 11:57 left.

Virginia mounted a comeback effort and a three-pointer from the right circle by Marial Shayok tied the score for the Cavaliers at 49-49 with 6:01 left in regulation.

Georgia Tech responded with an 8-0 run which included consecutive three-pointers by Stephens to retake the lead 57-49 with 3:10 left in regulation. The Yellow Jackets didn’t relinquish the lead.

Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 17-9 lead midway through the first half. The Yellow Jackets hled the lead throughout the first half and held a 35-24 lead at the break.

Stephens scored a team-high 10 points for Georgia Tech which shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first half. Smith had nine points while Jacobs scored eight. The Yellow Jackets made five of nine three-pointer attempts while outrebounded the Cavaliers 21-12 in the first half.

Virginia struggled from the field in the first half, making only 38.5 percent of its shots and missing all five three-pointer attempts. Brogdon did score a game-high 11 first-half points.