Associated Press
BOSTON ó Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg saw it coming, and he wasn’t able to stop it.
“The last thing we talked about coming out of the timeout was, ‘The shot’s not going to beat you. It’s going to be the second shot,”‘ Greenberg said after Rakim Sanders scored the go-ahead basket on a putback with 0.4 seconds left to give Boston College a 67-66 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday night.
“You’ve got to rebound the ball,” he said. “That’s the last thing my guys heard when they left the huddle.”
Virginia Tech trailed most of the game before going ahead in the final minute and took a 66-65 lead on A.D. Vassallo’s free throws with 14.5 seconds to play. But Tyrese Rice brought the ball downcourt and drove to the basket for a floater that bounced off the back of the rim.
“The game was there, so I just went as hard as I could,” Sanders said. “I felt I had to let it go as soon as I got up there.”
Tech’s desperation inbounds pass was knocked harmlessly away as the buzzer sounded.
“Usually most games are won in that way, with second shots,” BC coach Al Skinner said. “It was a great hustle play. We put shooters and quickness on the floor. Either Tyrese was going to have a play to make, or we were going to have to get after it.”
Rice scored 16, including a floater in the lane to start a three-point play that gave BC a 65-64 lead with 38 seconds left. Corey Raji had seven points and nine rebounds to help Boston College (17-6, 5-3 ACC) win its fourth in a row since a four-game losing streak.