Virginia Escaped Syracuse With A Buzzer-Beating Three From Reece Beekman

March is in full swing, and this weekend brings with it all of the major conference tournaments in men’s college basketball ahead of Selection Sunday. This month has already seen some wild finishes and Tournament dreams get dashed, most notably Memphis needing a win over Houston only to get taken down by a midcourt heave.

On Thursday, the ACC Tournament rolled on with quarterfinals action as top-seeded Virginia faced off with 8-seed Syracuse. The Orange led by three at the half and throughout the second half it was a tight, back-and-forth affair, but the Hoos managed to pull off the win on the final possession of the game, when they were able to probe the Syracuse defense and kick it out for a wide open three-pointer from Reece Beekman at the buzzer.

This is, indeed, March, and with it comes wild finishes in the middle of the afternoon like this one. Single-elimination tournaments are, objectively, a terrible way to determine a champion, whether for a conference crown or the national champion, but they are intoxicating to watch and there’s no doubt they produce drama that a series format simply can’t match. For that, we’re thankful for tournament hoops and Virginia knows a thing or two about surviving and advancing.