DURHAM, N.C. -- Last season, the Hokies' game at Cameron Indoor Stadium was one of the most painful losses in their history.

On Saturday, it was a reason to celebrate.

The Virginia Tech men's basketball team knocked off fifth-ranked Duke 69-67 in overtime for its biggest victory in 21 years.

"What goes around comes around, and it came around," said Tech senior guard Jamon Gordon, who made the go-ahead basket with 31 seconds left in OT.

Tech was 0-9 all time at Cameron -- 0-2 since joining the ACC. The Hokies (11-4, 2-0) suffered a stunning loss at then-No. 1 Duke 77-75 in December 2005 when Sean Dockery sank a 40-footer at the buzzer.

"We wanted this one. We needed this one," said senior center Coleman Collins, who had 11 points. "Everyone on our team has had that date circled since last year. ... We had a lot riding on this game. We had a lot of emotion.

"Last year we came into the locker room in tears. This year, we wanted to make sure we went out with a smile on our face."

It was the Hokies' biggest win since beating No. 2 Memphis State 76-72 at home on Feb. 1, 1986. It was the Hokies' biggest victory on a foe's court since winning 80-77 at No. 3 Kentucky on Dec. 1, 1962.

Senior guard Zabian Dowdell, whose team was 0-7 against ranked foes last season, shouted with delight in front of the "Cameron Crazies" at game's end. He bumped chests with Gordon, and they fell to the floor together and rolled around as their teammates raced over.

Dowdell popped his jersey in front of the "Cameron Crazies." Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski went over and scolded him.

"He just told me I'm too classy of a guy to be carrying on like that," Dowdell said.

Coach Seth Greenberg hugged his wife.

Collins, who was in anguish after Dockery's buzzer-beater last season, hugged his brother and sister. He then took off his jersey and exhaled.

Tech improved to 2-3 against Duke (13-2, 0-1) since joining the ACC, including a home win two seasons ago.

Duke had won its last 10 ACC openers, and had been 112-2 against unranked foes at home since the 1997-98 season.

"It does hurt," said Duke center Josh McRoberts, who had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six turnovers. "We didn't deserve to win. We played the worst we could've played."

Dowdell had 20 points and five steals. Gordon had 17 points and two steals. Duke had 22 turnovers to Tech's seven.

"Our senior guards, I thought, were magnificent," Greenberg said.

Duke's DeMarcus Nelson, who had 22 points, buried a 3-pointer to tie the score at 64 with 19 seconds left in regulation.

"I was so mad that we let Nelson hit that 3," Gordon said.

There was 17 seconds on the clock when Tech called timeout, but the officials conferred and took 4.1 seconds off the clock before play resumed. Dowdell missed a jumper at the buzzer.

"We came out of the timeout thinking that we had 17 seconds, and we had 12," Dowdell said. "It made us kind of rush the play."

Gordon drove to the basket past Gerald Henderson and put up a jumper for a 68-67 lead with 31 seconds left in OT.

"Henderson played me to the right, so I just went left," Gordon said. "I saw McRoberts, so I knew I had to shoot it high. That's why the ball was up so long.

"Thank God it dropped."

A.D. Vassallo made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 69-67 with 7.5 seconds left in OT.

Tech forward Deron Washington then blocked guard Greg Paulus' 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

"Me and Zabe were talking, and we switched on him on the play," said Washington, who had 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals. "I [saw] ... him jump up to shoot the shot, and I was like, 'I'm not letting this happen like last year.' I'm jumping up, trying to contest it, get a hand on it."

Paulus finished with no points and six turnovers.

"If you're down by two, you should drive it to the basket," Krzyzewski said. "That was a mistake which we're all responsible for."

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Washington 35 3-7 5-8 8 3 4 11

Witcher 14 1-2 2-2 5 0 5 4

Collins 39 5-14 1-2 5 1 3 11

Dowdell 41 8-16 2-2 3 2 0 20

Gordon 40 7-11 2-2 6 2 1 17

Munson 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Krabbendam 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 0

Sailes 23 0-2 0-0 0 2 0 0

Diakite 7 0-1 0-0 0 0 3 0

Vassallo 19 2-6 1-2 1 0 2 6

Tucker 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0

Totals 225 26-60 13-18 29 10 21 69

Duke MP FG FT R A F PT

McRoberts 44 5-9 6-12 10 4 3 16

McClure 25 0-1 1-2 6 0 2 1

Paulus 18 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 0

Nelson 39 8-13 2-2 5 2 4 22

Scheyer 44 3-7 5-6 4 1 2 12

Henderson 32 4-9 2-4 4 2 2 10

Thomas 17 2-3 0-0 2 0 1 4

Zoubek 6 0-0 2-2 1 1 0 2

Totals 225 22-45 18-28 37 11 16 67

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Virginia Tech 38 26 5-- 69

Duke 33 31 3-- 67

Three point goals: Virginia Tech 4-10 (Dowdell 2-3, Gordon 1-2, Vassallo 1-2, Washington 0-2, Munson 0-1), Duke 5-12 (Nelson 4-6, Scheyer 1-3, Paulus 0-3.

Turnovers: Virginia Tech 7 (Gordon 3), Duke 22 (Paulus, McRoberts 6).

Blocked shots: Virginia Tech 3 (Washington, Collins, Krabbendam), Duke 5 (McRoberts 3).

Steals: Virginia Tech 14 (Dowdell 5, Duke 3 (Nelson 2).

Officials: Valentine, Nestor, Styons.

Attendance: 9,314.