Until about two minutes left in Tuesday night's game between the Syracuse Orange and Virginia Tech Hokies, it looked like whatever chances the Orange had in making the NCAA Tournament were about to be extinguished. Losing at home to the lowly Hokies would be the latest in a series of setbacks too impossible to overcome.
And then Michael Gbinije woke up.
That was the capper that won the game for Syracuse, 72-70, and kept alive their slim hopes of turning the season around and making it to the NCAAs.
But before we even get into that, we need to take a moment and tip our caps to Gbinije. In the midst of a rough night, especially at the free throw line, Silent G made them when they mattered to tie the game up at 70. After a meltdown backcourt violation by the Hokies, he sank the aforementioned shot and the Orange escaped with the win. In a season full of "We Won, Now Let Us Never Speak Of This Again" victories, this one tops the list.
Gbinije and Trevor Cooney led the Orange with 18 points apiece while Rakeem Christmas added 15 and 12 boards. Tyler Roberson also added eleven rebounds and six points. The Orange somehow won despite an abysmal three-point shooting evening (4-of-19). Cooney himself went 2-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Orange also went 16-of-29 from the free throw line. *throws up*
More detailed recap to come but in the meantime watch the slo-mo version of Ginije's game-winner and go invest in adult diapers cause you're gonna need'm.