ACC scoring leader Olivier Hanlan poured in 16 of his 25 points in the second half, including the game-winner with 10.6 seconds remaining, and Patrick Heckmann added 19 as Boston College staved off Georgia Tech 66-65 in the first round of the ACC tournament Tuesday at the Greensboro Coliseum,.
The victory wasn’t secured until Corey Heyward’s driving layup attempt rolled off the rim, and the rebound was batted out of bounds. The referees checked the video to determine whether any time was remaining but found there was not.
BC (13-18) advances to play fifth-seeded North Carolina (21-10) at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the second round.
It was the third straight meeting in the first round between these teams. BC also won two years ago.
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Georgia Tech (12-19) was led by Tadric Jackson with 16 points, Charles Mitchell with 14, and Robert Sampson with 12 as Georgia Tech used its inside power game to try to offset BC’s perimeter attack. Tech had a commanding 43-26 advantage on the boards, but BC countered with 40 percent 3-point shooting (8 of 20) to Tech’s 3-for-15 effort.
Sampson gave Tech its biggest lead of the day, 63-57, with 1:49 left, but BC wasn’t finished. Hanlan and Heckmann combined for five consecutive free throws, and after Mitchell threw away an offensive rebound, Hanlan scored on a breakaway for the lead with 41 seconds to go.
Jackson came right back to stick a pull-up jumper in the lane for a 65-64 lead with 26.8 seconds left, but Hanlan matched him with a short jumper over the 6-foot-8 Sampson to return the lead to BC with 10.6 seconds on the clock.
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