Syracuse’s first lead came under a minute into overtime, but the Orange (16-8, 6-5 Atlantic Coast) escaped with a 68-60 overtime win over Virginia Tech (12-11, 4-6) on Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome. The Orange struggled to score in regulation against the worst defensive team in the conference, but a string of deep balls in the extra period put Syracuse above .500 in ACC play for the first time.

Here are three quick reactions from the game.

Outlet

Even as Syracuse couldn’t hit water from a boat in the first half from 3-point range, Tyler Roberson grabbed eight boards and added eight points to stabilize the Orange. Four of those were of the offensive variety, which equaled Virginia Tech’s first-half team total.

A second-half sequence where he flushed a two-handed dunk through contact and hit the front end of a one-and-one seconds later erased VT’s lead for the first time since the beginning of the game. It also gave him a double-double with about 10 minutes to go, his sixth on the season.

Syracuse finished with a 14-7 advantage in second-chance points as Roberson ended with six offensive boards, 15 total rebounds and 12 points.

Mustached man

Tyler Lydon thrust his arms in the air from the bench with 30 seconds remaining in overtime. The freshman had fouled out earlier in the extra period and was relegated to the bench for the finish of a frantic game that Syracuse rarely had in its grasp.

Minutes earlier, Lydon corralled a missed layup by Michael Gbinije and slammed it home to put Syracuse up five for its largest lead of the night at the time. He provided a more than sufficient reinforcement to Roberson’s standout day down low.

Lydon finished with 13 points and six rebounds, along with being the only Syracuse player not to miss a foul shot.

Grinding it out

Trevor Cooney stepped to the foul line for his inevitable first points late in the first half, an 0-for-6 mark from the field already to his name. But two misses and two scrunched faces from his dad in the stands later, Cooney stood 0-for-3 from the line in addition to a fruitless shooting first half.

The first shot of the second half went to him, though, and he sunk a 3 from right in front of Syracuse’s bench to cut Virginia Tech’s lead to three. That’s about all he had going for him in regulation.

Cooney finished an abysmal 1-of-9 from the field with only three free throws to account for his regulation scoring after opening the second stanza with a long ball. But with three minutes left in overtime, his second 3-pointer and made field goal of the night, Cooney screamed toward the Carrier Dome roof after putting the Orange up 61-58, a lead that never vanished.

Published on February 2, 2016 at 10:32 pm