CLEMSON – ‘GRIT After Dark’ was the mantra for Clemson’s 9 p.m. tip, and it went on to be a battle to midnight. The Tigers got lit up from three again, including Georgia Tech’s heroic push late to make it a double overtime war where the Yellow Jackets escaped with a 93-90 win.

Back-to-back threes late forced a veteran Clemson team to make free throws, and the Tigers went 3-4 at the end of regulation. That opened the door for a tie before the buzzer, and the Yellow Jackets made their third-straight three pointer to make it an even later night in Littlejohn Coliseum.

The first overtime was a thriller, and Clemson’s two-pointers weren’t enough to compete with the absurd shot-making coming from the other side in the second iteration.

Dillon Hunter was bumped into the starting lineup and the offense opened up with spacing and clean drives to the basket often. That set up for a career outing from center PJ Hall, the beneficiary of Clemson’s knifing through the paint.

The Yellow Jackets offense was the polar opposite, quite literally jacked up three-pointers, and many of them came easy in the first half. 20 of Georgia Tech’s 31 field goal attempts in the first half came from behind the arc, and it was once 17 of 20 shots.

That amounted to seven makes before the break. Freshman Naithan George led the way with eight in the half coming off a career-high 17 points at Duke. Still, the Tigers held a 32-30 lead through the long-range onslaught. He went on to be the hero, finishing with a career-high 20 points, another large mark allowed by this group.

This continued for relentless effort from Damon Stoudamire’s squad, keeping it a single-digit game with low percentage shots. The three-point success was limited early in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets had a late flurry to finish regulation. The fearless group finished with 15 three-pointers on the night.

The good news was six forced turnovers in the second half created extra opportunities for Brownell’s team, but that’s where the defensive superlatives ended.

Inside success from the Tigers matched, though. Hall finished with a career-high in both 31 points and 17 rebounds, securing a double double with 19 minutes left in regulation. He was effective on both ends, as was Ian Schieffelin, who made it a duet in the paint. Clemson’s workhorse added 20 points and 15 rebounds as the life was choked out of Georgia Tech late. A pair of double-doubles from the towers in the middle.

Jack Clark made his first appearance since the win over Alabama Nov. 28. He had missed the last 10 games and had an impressive possession in the first half. Pairing a slick pass to Schieffelin with an offensive rebound, he looked smooth even with a clear minutes restriction. That wasn’t his highlight of the night, as he forced a turnover at the end of the first overtime to keep hopes alive. Clark finished with two rebounds and an assist over 10 minutes.

Clemson, now 2-4 in the ACC, hopes to get back on track Saturday with a trip to take on Florida State. That game tips off at 4 p.m., televised on ACC Network.