Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Survives Drama-Filled Scare vs. Elon

Josh Poslusny recaps Virginia Tech's 82-81 OT victory over Elon. Read more below.

Mike Young walking into the locker room at Cassell Coliseum | Virginia Tech Athletic

That one was rough. Virginia Tech men's basketball took down Elon, 82-81, Saturday afternoon while missing three players who have started at least five games for the Hokies. By the end of the matchup, the Hokies also lost another, guard Tyler Johnson, to injury and a fifth starter, forward Amani Hansberry by way of fouling out.

dashing through with a dub 😝 pic.twitter.com/umpxL40a1H

— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 20, 2025

"It's one of those days," Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said post -game. "... We just had to find a way to win and I knew going in that they were good. I was nervous about it. And I'm proud of our team."

To start, Virginia Tech was once again missing Tobi Lawal due to an injury he sustained in the Bahamas. They also missed Antonio Dorn due to a back injury that he re-aggravated during the previous game against UMES. On top of those two, the Hokies were missing star guard Neoklis Avdalas due to an illness.

"Neo was complaining about not feeling great yesterday," Young said. "Come to shoot around this morning and he can't do it. Saw our team doctor, and was sick and sent him home. He wasn't in the building."

Things unraveled early for Virginia Tech. Elon jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first few minutes, and eventually extended that lead by more than triple, leading by 19 with just three minutes to go in the first half. Elon wouldn't relinquish that lead until there were less than six minutes remaining in the game, where the Hokies would take a 63-62 lead. There would be nine lead changes in the final five minutes and overtime.

“We find ourselves down 19, we can’t get anything going," Young said. "Cutting it to eight was significant, inch by inch.”

The game would go back and forth for the rest of regulation; things didn't look good for the Hokies' chances until Hansberry found the bottom of the basket with a nine-foot floater with just 28 seconds remaining. That tied the game and forced overtime after the Hokies made a crucial defensive stand to stave off the Phoenix.

“It’s amazing what happens when you pressure the ball and you play with high hands and you’re there on the catch," Young said post-game.

Overtime was just as chaotic. Neither team led by more than two for the rest of the way. Ben Hammond made several clutch free throws to give Virginia Tech a one-point lead with just 44 seconds remaining; however, Elon countered with a layup to reclaim the lead with just 25 seconds remaining. 15 seconds later, Tech would take it down the floor, and Ben Hammond dished the ball off to center Christian Gurdak for what ended up being a game-winning layup.

Following that, the Hokies got a stop, Izaiah Pasha missed two free throws, and Elon failed to connect on a would-be game-winner, giving the Hokies their eleventh win on the season.

Amani Hansberry played amazingly in this one, putting up 20 points and 14 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Izaiah Pasha also played a strong game, tallying 29 minutes and putting up 11 points with three assists. Lastly, Ben Hammond had a strong game, playing a team-high 44 minutes and putting up 15 points and seven assists.

Despite all of those strong games, Gurdak was the game's start. In the final few minutes, he was in the game with Sin'Cere Jones in the front court, tallying the game-winning basket.

“Christian played 28 minutes, grabbed six rebounds. Um, you know, Ben Hammond’s terrific. Tyler Johnson did a really, really nice job. Didn’t have as many rebounds as I thought he would have.”

In 28 minutes on the floor, Gurdak went 6-for-8 from the floor with 17 points and six rebounds.

The Hokies came into this game as heavy favorites and struggled heavily, early. They didn't shoot well, sporting just a 4-for-14 rate from three and 13 assists with as many turnovers, an uncharacteristic stat from this Virginia Tech team. Despite the unfavorable circumstances - injuries, sickness, foul trouble, etc. - the Hokies managed to walk off of their home floor with one more win than they walked on with. 

Virginia Tech now has a much-needed nine-day break before opening up conference play against UVA on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. ET.