BLACKSBURG -- When the final buzzer sounded, Zabian Dowdell heaved the ball up to the rafters of Cassell Coliseum -- a place where Dowdell and his teammates have yet to lose this season.

The No. 23 Hokies bounced back from Wednesday's loss at Florida State by fending off Maryland 67-64 in overtime Sunday night.

"It's always good to win a close game nowadays," said Dowdell, who had 19 points. "In the past, it was rare that we won the close game."

It was Tech's second overtime win this month; the Hokies (14-5, 4-1 ACC) also won in overtime at Duke.

Tech improved to 5-4 this season in games decided by six points or less, including 4-0 in ACC games decided by six points or less. Last year, Tech was 3-12 in games decided by six points or less.

"Last year, we had so much [off-court] tragedy and so much bad luck, and this year it's completely opposite," Dowdell said.

Tech had a good crowd despite the winter storm. Faced with the prospect of thousands of empty seats for a game televised nationally by Fox Sports Net, Tech officials e-mailed Tech students at noon Sunday and told them they could attend the game for free. Most of the crowd was comprised of loud students.

"We wanted to make sure we bounced back and got a win at home," said Tech's Coleman Collins, who had 11 points and 14 rebounds. "The students came out full force and we just wanted to win one for them. We didn't want to let them down because they came out through the snow and ice and made it out to this game.

"Anytime we have an atmosphere like that, it was great. It was like Cameron [Indoor Stadium] for a little bit in there."

Tech improved to 3-0 against ranked foes this month after going 0-7 against ranked foes last season. Maryland (15-5, 1-4) is ranked No. 22 in the USA Today-ESPN coaches poll but is not ranked in the Associated Press media poll.

Dowdell made a layup to tie the score at 61 with 4:20 left in OT. Jamon Gordon, who had 16 points, sank two free throws for a 63-61 lead. Dowdell stole the ball, rebounded a Gordon miss and scored for a 65-61 lead with 2:11 left in overtime.

D.J. Strawberry, who had 16 points for Maryland, sank two free throws after a Gordon turnover to cut the lead to 67-64 with 50.4 seconds to go in OT. Dowdell missed a layup with 21 seconds left.

Maryland inbounded the ball with 16.5 seconds left, but the clock didn't start so the ball was inbounded again with 13 seconds left. Mike Jones missed a layup with six seconds left and Gordon came up with the loose ball. He passed to Dowdell upcourt, who dribbled out the final seconds.

"We didn't want to give up a 3," Dowdell said. "That's basically what we said in the huddle. We just wanted to contest all 3s, not foul them. ... Going to the basket, we wanted to give them the clean 2 and not an and-one."

"Those guys, digging balls out, slapping balls away, coming up with 50-50 balls. .... That last possession was about owning 50-50s," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

The Hokies scored one point in the final 6 minutes of regulation.

"We were kind of standing around on offense," Dowdell said. "We were trying to use the clock. We started doing that a bit too early. We should've kept running our offense."

Down 58-50 with 6:23 left in regulation, Maryland went on a 9-0 run to grab a 59-58 lead with 1:45 left in regulation. Tech had two turnovers in the run, and Tech's Deron Washington missed the front end of a one-and-one late in the run.

Collins sank one of two free throws to tie the score at 59 with 59.3 seconds left.

Gordon's jumper with about 10 seconds left rolled in and out of the basket. James Gist of Maryland put up a jumper at the buzzer, but it went off the rim.

The Hokies shot 38.5 percent from the field in the second half to Maryland's 28.6 percent. Tech outrebounded Maryland 47-40 in the game.

"Defensively, we were magnificent," Greenberg said.

Tech went on an 8-0 run to grab a 46-42 lead with 14:21 left in the second half. Tech didn't lose the lead until Maryland took the 59-58 lead late in regulation.

MARYLAND (15-5)

Gist 3-11 2-2 8, Ibekwe 1-4 1-2 3, Strawberry 5-13 5-7 16, Vasquez 4-9 3-4 12, Jones 4-12 2-2 12, Milbourne 0-0 0-0 0, Hayes 2-5 0-0 5, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Bowers 1-5 1-2 3, Osby 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 22-62 15-21 64.

VIRGINIA TECH (14-5)

Washington 1-8 0-2 2, Witcher 1-3 0-0 2, Collins 5-9 1-2 11, Dowdell 8-13 3-5 19, Gordon 4-17 8-9 16, Munson 0-1 2-2 2, Krabbendam 0-1 1-2 1, Sailes 0-1 0-0 0, Diakite 4-5 1-2 9, Vassallo 2-5 0-0 5, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 16-24 67.

Halftime--Virginia Tech 34-33. End Of Regulation--Tied 59. 3-Point Goals--Maryland 5-15 (Jones 2-7, Strawberry 1-2, Vasquez 1-2, Hayes 1-3, Gist 0-1), Virginia Tech 1-6 (Vassallo 1-1, Dowdell 0-1, Washington 0-1, Gordon 0-3). Fouled Out--Washington. Rebounds--Maryland 40 (Ibekwe 9), Virginia Tech 47 (Collins 14). Assists--Maryland 10 (Strawberry, Vasquez 3), Virginia Tech 8 (Dowdell, Gordon, Vassallo 2). Total Fouls--Maryland 18, Virginia Tech 17. A--9,847.