Freshman Christian Gurdak leads Virginia Tech past Bryant

A 15-point performance off the bench from freshman center Christian Gurdak and a pair of key runs led Virginia Tech to a 78-61 nonconference win over Bryant on Wednesday in Blacksburg, Va.

The game result was perhaps as much of a hit with the crowd as the introduction of new Virginia Tech football coach James Franklin at halftime.

Gurdak had played just 22 minutes and scored 12 points for Virginia Tech (5-0) coming in. However, with Amani Hansberry out injured and Antonio Dorn ejected in the second half after getting called for two flagrant fouls, Gurdak played 26 minutes, shot 7-for-9 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. All but two of his points came in the second half.

Virginia Tech's Tobi Lawal notched 18 points and 13 rebounds. Ben Hammond produced 11 points and six assists, and Neoklis Avdalas added 11 points and five assists. Tyler Johnson had 10 points and nine boards, shooting 4-for-5 from the field.

Bryant (1-4) was led by Quincy Allen, who scored 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting and also pulled down six rebounds. Keegan Harvey recorded 12 points, including 10 in the second half. The Bulldogs' leading scorer on the season, Timofei Rudovskii, totaled 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting and added four assists.

The Hokies shot 51.7% from the floor but just 25% (4-for-16) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs hit 42.3% of their field-goal attempts and 18.5% (5-for-27) from beyond the arc.

Bryant, down by 10 points early in the second half, rallied to pull within 38-35 on a Keegan Harvey 3-pointer with 17:11 to play.

The Hokies answered with a 10-3 run to regain control. Gurdak scored eight points in the surge, including a tip-in and a dunk. Virginia Tech's lead never dipped below five points for the rest of the game.

Throughout the first half, Bryant threatened to play spoiler. The Bulldogs grabbed a 20-17 lead on an Ashley Sims II jump shot with 5:14 left until intermission. However, Virginia Tech answered with a 13-0 run and never trailed again. That sequence included dunks from Lawal, Jaden Schutt and Johnson.

--Field Level Media