Victor Valdes made a free throw with 1 second left as Georgia Tech rallied late to escape a challenge from UNC Asheville, 75-74, Saturday in Atlanta.
Valdes’ winning shot came after the Bulldogs tied it 74-74 on a 3-pointer by Connor Dubsky with 3 seconds left.
Valdes was awarded two free throws when he was fouled in the backcourt as he maneuvered to attempt a desperation 3. The foul appeared to be intentional from the UNC Asheville defender.
The Yellow Jackets (4-0) won after trailing by 14 points with 9 minutes left. Kaiden Bailey fueled the comeback, scoring all 11 of his points in the final 6:26.
Cortland Muldrew also keyed the rally as he scored all 10 of his points in the final 8 minutes.
Tylis Jordan tallied 17 points and seven rebounds and Jackson Fields added 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Kam Craft drained four 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for Georgia Tech.
It was the second straight game in which Georgia Tech came back from a halftime deficit against a mid-major conference school. On Tuesday, they overcame Eastern Kentucky of the United Athletic Conference, 85-71, after trailing 42-41.
In this one, Georgia Tech fell behind 32-25 as Myles Mayfield hit 9 of 11 shots from the floor on his way to scoring a career-high 21 points for UNC Asheville (2-3).
UNC Asheville gained its biggest lead of the game, 56-42, when Khayri Dunn (11 points) made a 3-pointer with 10:00 left.
But Georgia Tech got one 3-pointer from Muldrew and two from Bailey including one with 1:10 left which gave the Yellow Jackets a 69-66 lead.
In the first half, Fields gave Georgia Tech a 13-10 lead with a 3-pointer before UNC Asheville followed with the next 11 points.
Mayfield ignited the run with a 3-pointer and added two more baskets as the Bulldogs surged to a 21-13 lead with 9:37 left in the period.
A triple by Ja’Corey Lipkins (10 points) gave UNC Asheville its biggest lead of the half at 26-15 with 7:14 to go.
Early in the second half, the Yellow Jackets scored seven straight points to slice the deficit to 38-34.
But Mayfield had an immediate answer with a 3-pointer, then Dubsky (11 points) followed on UNC Asheville’s next possession with another triple.
–Field Level Media
