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Hokies Hoops Reigns Supreme in the Commonwealth as Virginia Tech Takes Down No. 21 UVA 95-85 in Triple-Overtime Classic

Evan Bainer·January 1, 2026

In its first in-conference game of the 2025-2026 season, Virginia Tech enters the new year with a much-needed Commonwealth Clash victory over archrival Virginia.

“We’re Virginia Tech; that’s what we do,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “Great admiration for the Cavaliers, but damn it I’ve got a good basketball team too, and I’m not gonna shy away from that.”

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Prior to their New Year’s Eve matchup against the Cavaliers, Virginia Tech was 4-1 in its last five contests in Cassell Coliseum against the in-state foes.

With young playmaker Tyler Johnson out with a lingering foot injury sustained in the final minutes of Tech’s previous contest against Elon, the Hokies were short-handed once again as Johnson joined Antonio Dorn and Tobi Lawal on the injured list.

Nonetheless, the Blacksburg bunch persisted.

Not much offense happened in the first half of Wednesday’s contest, as the two commonwealth teams were held to a total of 47 points in the 20-minute span with the score at 24-23 in favor of the Cavaliers heading into halftime.

Neoklis Avdalas was the Hokies’ driving force in the first half against Virginia. Tech’s all-round spark led Tech’s tally with eight points in the half after knocking down a pair of three-pointers.

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Christian Gurdak and Amani Hansberry held down the Tech frontcourt efforts in the first, as the two posted six points and four points, respectively.

The low scoring by both teams bled into the second half, as the score was tied at 42 points each with just under nine minutes left to play. Scoring held steady, as the two squads were tied at 51 points each with two-and-a-half left to play. A Christian Gurdak layup gave the maroon & orange the lead and Virginia responded to tie the score back up at 53.

In the final seconds of the second half, with the score tied at 55, the Cavaliers drove down the court with 35 seconds on the clock – enough for one shot to try to put the game away. However, a missed shot and a Gurdak rebound gave the Hokies possession as the clock ran out, and the contest, which was tight all game, was going into overtime.

After trading off scores during overtime, the Hokies were left with one glimmer of hope left as they trailed 68-66 with 10 seconds left. Fortunately enough, Gurdak was given a wide-open lane for the dunk and score, sending the game into double overtime.

Though the Hokies held the lead towards the end of the second overtime period, Virginia was able to tie the game back up at 78 points after a buzzer-beater off an offensive rebound would send the contest to triple overtime.

In triple overtime, the Hokies pulled away.

Led by a strong free-throw-shooting effort from Ben Hammond – who shot 16-18 from the line on the evening – the Hokies surged out to a 92-83 lead to start the third overtime period. The Blacksburg crew would hold steady and complete the hard fought win with a final score of 95-85.

Hammond was very well the player of the game for the Hokies; Mike Young even said it himself in the postgame press conference. Hammond, who totaled 30 points off the bench, accounted for 10 of the Hokies’ 17 points in the final overtime period. He also posted eight of Tech’s 10 points in the second overtime period.

Alongside Hammond, the trio of Avdalas, Hansberry, and Gurdak all accounted for 17 points each. Gurdak and Hansberry also snatched a total of 34 rebounds – with 19 and 15, respectively – en route to double-double performances for each of the frontcourt big men.

Virginia Tech will look for another ACC win as it heads down to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Hopefully the injury plague will die down soon. For now, however, Young will continue to use his available pieces to get wins by any means necessary.

For a team that was short two of its opening night starters, the Hokies put the college basketball world on watch with their upset victory. With Lawal and Johnson set to come back soon – as Young noted after the game – a fully healthy Hokies team can prove to do some damage against some of the nation’s top teams.

For now, however, the Hokies end 2025 on a high note and turn the page to 2026, where a March Madness run will hopefully be in the cards for this Blacksburg squad.

Evan Bainer

Men's Basketball Beat Reporter

Having grown up in Northern Virginia, my love for sports first started with watching games at Nationals park. However, my fandom proudly extends to the West Coast as well.