Georgia Tech Gets Close Win On Senior Night

Early in this one, a lot of things looked wrong for Georgia Tech. Lammers got two fouls in the first three minutes. Tech was turning the ball over way too much. They weren’t getting open shots. They missed a bunch of free throws. Still, they hung in it, in large part due to a ton of Wake Forest turnovers. They even went on a run at the end of the first half to grab their first lead at 26-25 at half. In the second half, Lammers picked up two more quick fouls. Despite that, Tech held their own and traded leads with the Demon Deacons until about 10 minutes left in the game. Wake made a three pointer just under 8 minutes to tie the game at 46. After that, Tech took control of the game. They scored the next 6 points. They got their lead up as high as 8 points with 2:45 left. It looked like Tech might cruise to a victory. It was not to be. Wake Forest started making shots and were helped by a Tech possession that involved a missed wide open dunk, an airball 3, 2 offensive rebounds and only about 30 seconds. After some missed free throws by Tech, Wake Forest had the ball with just over 30 seconds left in the game and only a two point deficit. The Deacons’ best player, Bryant Crawford, took the ball got Josh Okogie out of position, but then he lowered his shoulder into Okogie’s chest on his drive for the offensive foul. Okogie then hit six straight free throws to guarantee Tech’s win.

The big issue for Wake Forest was that they didn’t have the scorers. Crawford put up 22 points on 7-15 shooting and he was helped by Doral Moore with 12 points on 5-6 shooting. Beyond that, they didn’t have much help. The other three starters (Terrence Thompson, Mitchell Wilbekin, and Chaundee Brown) combined for 6 points on 2-16 shooting. Wake Forest’s third scorer, Keyshawn Woods, ended up with 0 points on 0-4 shooting. Donovan Mitchell came off the bench and added 8 points all scored within about 3 minutes.

Tech got the help that Wake Forest didn’t. Okogie ended with 22 points on 5-14 shooting (a bunch of those points were late game free throws). Tadric Jackson added 12 points in his final home game (although he went 1-6 from deep). Ben Lammers struggled with fouls and on offense adding only 6 points on 2-7. Tech’s supporting players stepped up. Brandon Alston added 12 points on 4-6 shooting. Evan Cole got the double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. All of his points came in the second half.

This is the end to a disappointing season for the Yellow Jackets, but this team never gave up and finished off with back-to-back home wins. Now they head into the ACC tournament as the #13 seed playing at noon on Tuesday. Who they play isn’t decided yet, but it will probably be BC which is a very winnable game. Hopefully they keep this win streak going!