Canes Hoops Recap: Career Day for Amp Guides Canes to ACC Win

The Canes looked to follow their win over Pitt with a road triumph over the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Anthony Lawrence had his best game ever in orange and green, achieving his second consecutive double-double with a career-high 25 points and 13 rebounds.

DJ Vasiljevic started the game with two driving layups, surprising some fans who hadn’t seen such skills from the 3-point specialist. While only making two threes, the Australian scored 14 points behind his newfound ability to drive.

The Canes soon found themselves up by 14 early, nearly doubling the Hokie point total.

A back and forth half sent Miami into the locker room at halftime up 44-32.

A few Cane baskets after halftime gave way to a Hokie run as Virginia Tech pulled within single digits and forced Miami to use a timeout just after the 16-minute mark in the second half.

The Blacksburg crowd slowly but surely willed the home team back into the game and with under four minutes to play, Miami’s lead had been cut to 3.

Lonnie Walker responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession to extend the lead back up to six. Walker answered another Hokie basket with his own mid-range jump shot. Walker’s clutch last few minutes gave him 14 points on the afternoon, tied for second among the team.

After Ja’Quan Newton, who responded very well off the bench and scored 12, hit four consecutive free throws, and then Sam Waardenberg took a big charge on the defensive end. Vasiljevic then marched to the charity stripe and knocked down another two shots.

The free throw fiesta continued until the buzzer sounded and the Canes walked away with a nice 84-75 ACC road win.

The Canes return home for their next game on Wednesday against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Tip-off is at 7 PM.