Maxime Raynaud and Oziyah Sellers each scored 19 points to help Stanford beat Virginia Tech 70-59 on Wednesday in the Cardinal’s first Atlantic Coast Conference home game.
Raynaud grabbed 14 rebounds and Jaylen Blakes tallied 17 points for Stanford (10-5, 2-2), which defected from the Pac-12 after last season. Blakes hit 10 of 12 free throws as the Cardinal finished 15 of 17 from the line while the Hokies shot just 3 of 7.
Ben Burnham scored a season-high 18 points off the bench to pace Virginia Tech (6-9, 1-3), which led by 12 midway through the first half. Tobi Lawal added 15 points and Mylyjael Poteat scored 12.
The Hokies drew even at 56 on Poteat’s layup with 5:35 left before Stanford rattled off nine straight points to take the lead for good. Donavin Young started the run with a layup and Ryan Agarwal hit two free throws before Sellers swished a corner three for a 63-56 edge with 3:48 to go.
Blakes tacked on two foul shots with 2:40 remaining to finish the flurry, and Virginia Tech never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
The Hokies churned out 14 straight points over an eight-minute stretch in the first half to take a double-digit lead. Burnham capped the run with a pair of 3-pointers that pushed Virginia Tech ahead 16-4 with 9:29 left.
Stanford missed eight straight shots before Raynaud’s jumper broke the Cardinal’s nine-minute scoring drought and pulled them within 16-6 at the 9:05 mark.
The Hokies maintained at least a nine-point lead until Sellers canned two triples to cut the deficit to three with 1:03 remaining in the first half. Virginia Tech led 30-25 at the break after Rodney Brown Jr. rattled in a midrange jumper in the final seconds.
Stanford opened the second half hot from the floor and slid ahead 39-38 on Raynaud’s layup with 15:15 to go. Young followed with a 3-pointer and Sellers capped a string of four straight makes with a layup that pushed the Cardinal’s lead to 44-38.
The visitors responded with a 12-4 flurry, which included two soaring slams by Lawal, to pull ahead 50-48 with 8:18 left.
Both sides traded baskets over the next few minutes, highlighted by poster dunks from Lawal and Young on consecutive possessions.
