The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets celebrate their last home game of the season with a dramatic 81-77 victory over the Duke Blue Devils. Moses Wright went off on senior night with a total 29 points and 14 rebounds, marking his fourth-straight double-double performance.
Duke got the best of the hosts in the first half, but victory in the second half wouldn’t come so easily.
The Blue Devils went on an 8-0 run to finish regulation. Georgia Tech appeared aloof in the final minutes, acting as if the finish line was right in front of them, but in actuality, there was 4:00 minutes left in the game.
Duke’s Mark Williams scored 20 points, shooting nine for nine from the field, but shot an abysmal two for seven from the free throw line.
The Yellow Jackets were out-rebounding Duke 34-30 halfway through overtime. That extra effort plus poor free throw shooting from Duke enabled the Jackets to hold a 70-66 lead (after a 4-0 run). A win would give Tech a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.
Jose Alvarado was 30% in field goals on the night but made 100% of his free throws. Either way you look at it, the night belonged to Moses Wright, whose 29 points paved the way for Georgia Tech to beat Duke for the first time in over 20 years.
Georgia Tech has won five straight games in the ACC as they go into their final test of the season: Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons will host the Yellow Jackets on Friday, March 5, at 8:00PM ET.
-Jon J.
Photo: Hakim Wright