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Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech rallies past Notre Dame in first round of ACC Tournament

Associated Press
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Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile drives to the basket against Notre Dame guard Dane Goodwin during a first-round ACC Tournament game Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile drives to the basket against Notre Dame guard Dane Goodwin during a first-round ACC Tournament game Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Grant Basile scored 20 points, Justyn Mutts added 18 and Virginia Tech rallied to beat Notre Dame 67-64 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Rodney Rice’s 3-pointer and a layup from Mutts gave Virginia Tech a 63-62 advantage with 1:02 left. The game was tied at 64 before Mutts scored on a dunk, and then Rice blocked Cormac Ryan’s layup with 12 seconds to play.

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Sean Pedulla split a pair of free throws for the Hokies with 10 seconds left. Mutts blocked Marcus Hammond’s 3-pointer and Nate Laszewski missed a 3 to end it.

Pedulla added 13 points for 11th-seeded Virginia Tech (19-13), which has won six straight in the series. Hunter Cattoor had 11 points.

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Hammond scored 23 points for No. 14 seed Notre Dame (11-21), which might have played its last game with coach Mike Brey, who is stepping down after 23 years at the helm. Ryan finished with 18 points.

The Fighting Irish led 58-53 with 5:35 to play, but they trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half before pulling to 32-31 with 1:01 left before the break.

The Hokies face sixth-seeded North Carolina State at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the second round.

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