BLACKSBURG - Once again, a Virginia Tech men's basketball game was up for grabs in the final minute. And once again, Virginia Tech grabbed the victory.

The Hokies fended off arch rival Virginia 79-73 on Thursday in front of a near-capacity crowd at Cassell Coliseum. It was the teams' first meeting as ACC rivals. "I'm sticking to the formula - play a close game and win at the end," said Tech's Jamon Gordon, who had 10 points, eight assists and four steals.

Tech (11-6, 4-2) won its previous three games by a total of four points. In each of those games, Tech scored the winning basket in the final 37 seconds and had to defend at least one late shot by its foe. Virginia Tech wasted all of an 11-point second-half lead at Georgia Tech last weekend but still won.

The Hokies kept the lead for the entire second half this time, but UVa (10-7, 1-6) whittled a 16-point deficit to three points with 3:25 to go. The lead was still only three points in the final minute and was down to two with 11 seconds to go.

"I'm sorry for having the fans hold their chests," said Tech's Zabian Dowdell, who scored 14 points. "That's what makes the game good, I think."

Virginia Tech tied Wake Forest for third place in the ACC. Tech won its fifth straight game, its longest winning streak in nine seasons. Tech, in its debut ACC season, won its fourth straight conference game.

"We had to make it interesting, but we pulled it out," said Coleman Collins, who had 20 points for Tech. "We took their best shot and didn't fall down."

"We just beat a good Georgia Tech team down there and come back to Cassell and beat a desperate UVa team," said Tech's Carlos Dixon, who had 16 points in 40 minutes.

The Cavaliers, who also lost at Tech in 2003, dropped back into a last-place tie with Clemson in the ACC.

Down 60-44 with 11:27 left, UVa went on a 23-10 run to cut the deficit to 70-67 with 3:25 to go. Devin Smith, who had 24 points, capped the run with a 3-pointer and foul shot but never scored again.

"We came back. We showed courage; we showed toughness. But you can't dig a hole like that," UVa coach Pete Gillen said.

After Dixon scored, UVa's J.R. Reynolds sank two free throws. After Tech's Deron Washington made one of two free throws, Dowdell stole the ball and Washington made one of two foul shots to extend the lead to 74-69 with 1:58 left.

Elton Brown, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds, made two free throws to cut the lead to 74-71 with 1:46 to go. UVa's next two possessions ended with a Reynolds turnover and a missed layup by Brown. Dowdell then sank one of two free throws to put Tech up 75-71 lead with 19.9 seconds left. Brown scored with 11 seconds left, but Gordon answered with a dunk with 6.6 seconds left.

UVa had 22 turnovers, twice as many as Tech. The Hokies, who lead the ACC in turnover margin, had 12 steals.

"We stressed it like crazy. We talked about it for three days," Gillen said of Tech's knack for forcing turnovers.

"We always try to play passing lanes," Dowdell said. "Teams don't like to be pressured, and they're going to turn the ball over."

The Hokies went on a 13-3 run to build a 55-41 cushion with 12:33 left. Collins had seven points and Dixon two 3-pointers in that run.

UVa point guard Sean Singletary injured an ankle early in the second half and played only four minutes during that half.

VIRGINIA MIN FG-A FT-A R A F Pt Cain 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 Smith 36 9-12 2-3 6 2 3 24 Brown 30 7-14 5-9 15 0 5 19 Reynolds 37 3-8 2-2 3 4 1 10 Singletary 18 2-8 1-3 0 3 2 6 Bannister 23 0-3 0-0 1 4 4 0 Soroye 13 2-3 0-0 4 1 3 4 Forbes 19 2-2 0-0 3 1 1 4 Joseph 18 2-3 0-0 2 0 2 6 Totals 200 27-53 10-17 38 15 22 73

VA. TECH MIN FG-A FT-A R A F Pt Washington 31 3-5 8-11 5 1 4 14 Dixon 40 6-11 0-0 6 3 2 16 Collins 38 8-14 4-9 7 1 4 20 Dowdell 34 5-9 1-2 0 4 2 14 Gordon 40 5-11 0-1 5 8 1 10 Harris 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0 Witherspoon 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0 Cooke 14 2-5 0-0 0 2 2 5 Totals 200 29-55 13-23 25 19 15 79 Virginia34-39-73

Virginia Tech 37-42-79

Three-point goals - Virginia 9-21 (Smith 4-7, Reynolds 2-5, Singletary 1-6, Bannister 0-1, Joseph 2-2), Virginia Tech-8-17 (Dixon 4-7, Collins 0-1, Dowdell 3-6, Gordon 0-2, Cooke 1-1). Turnovers - Virginia 22, Virginia Tech 11. Attendance - 9,847