Both of Devin Wilson’s hands were up, but neither could reach Michael Gbinije or the ball he was about to float through the bottom of the net in front of the Syracuse student section.

Gbinije had driven across the top of the key to just outside the left block, spun back to his right and drained the game-winning shot with a tenth of a second remaining to give Syracuse (15-7, 6-3) a win at the end of a furious six-minute comeback over Virginia Tech (9-13, 1-8) on Tuesday night in front of 22,928 in the Carrier Dome.

In a game when Rakeem Christmas was below his recently high standards and the Orange’s best shooters struggled to sink open looks, Gbinije provided a third scoring option after Trevor Cooney spared the Orange. Gbinije’s 18 points, seven assists and four steals kept Syracuse close with the Hokies when it struggled, even when the visitors started to hit 3s and put SU in front at the last possible moment.

While Syracuse force-fed Christmas, it swung the ball to Gbinije with ease. Whereas when the ball came bouncing back out of the post and into Virginia Tech hands, when the Orange picked out Gbinije, it glided through the hoop.

Twice in the final three minutes of the first half, Kaleb Joseph swung the ball to Gbinije. The first, with 2:46 left in the half was from the right wing and tied the game at 28-28. The second, from the left wing, gave SU a 34-30 lead with 34 seconds remaining.

The halftime cushion proved crucial as the Orange got off to as troubling of a start in the second half as it did in the first.

Going into the second media timeout with 11:20 remaining, SU trailed 52-49. The Hokies had made all of their six 3s. Gbinije drew two fouls in nine seconds, inching the Orange closer to the bonus.

After struggling to hit free throws like so many of his teammates, Gbinije would use that bonus to tie the Hokies before beating them.

With 18.9 seconds remaining and SU trailing by 2, his first free throw hit the front rim and the backboard, then dropped in. His next swished through the hoop.

After an Adam Smith over-and-back gave the Orange the ball back, Gbinije inbounded the ball in front of SU’s bench. When he was given the ball, he attacked again to give SU a lead too late for the Hokies to take back.

Published on February 3, 2015 at 11:31 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_