NEW YORK- Georgia Tech used almost every second of regulation and overtime, but they pulled off an 82-81 win over Penn State in Madison Square Garden to pick up the first win of the season away from McCamish Pavilion.

Senior guard Miles Kelly saved the day for the Jackets in the final seconds of the game after Kowacie Reeves missed a pair of shots on the baseline. Kelly threw up a prayer and was fouled with 2.1 seconds left with Tech trailing 80-79. He hit both free throws and Tech defended the inbound play with 2.1 left after a Nittany Lions timeout to win the game for the Jackets.

"When you are growing up it is always your dream with the game on the line to take the game-winning shot and I missed it and I saw there was time still on the clock so I got the rebound and Miles being the type of player he is, he can impact the game whether he is having an off night it doesn't matter and he went and hit the free throws," Reeves said. "(On the foul) I thought they were going to let it go but I feel like there was enough contact for them to call it."

Kelly broke double figures with the two free throws following a rough shooting night ending with 10 points, but he had five rebounds and six assists as well as two steals doing the little things to help win the game.

"The biggest thing was we lost our composure but we didn't lose our connectivity as a team," head coach Damon Stoudamire said after the win. I thought the guys did a really good job of settling down and getting the game back to get to overtime. To get a win on the road even though this is a neutral site game, we haven't played well on the road this season, but to get this win here today was very big for us, and proud of the collective group."

Reeves said winning a game like this on the road could help them with the Diamond Head Classic coming up in Hawaii next week.

"I feel like this gives us some momentum and being our first road victory it gives us some confidence knowing that we can pull through adversity and stay connected on the road," Reeves said.

Reeves was key in the second half finishing the game with 15 points and five rebounds with 10 of his points coming in the second half and overtime.

Big man Baye Ndongo dominated the glass for Tech with 19 rebounds and added 12 points in 35 minutes. Ndongo tied a school record for rebounds in a game joining former Jackets Ja’von Franklin and Charles Mitchell in the record books.

The Jackets outbounded Penn State 54 to 32 in the game including 20 offensive rebounds, but Tech turnovers kept the Nittany Lions alive with 27 points off 17 turnovers.

“Rebounding killed us and we found some plays late in the game to have a chance to win the game and we just didn’t win the game. We had the Georgia Tech team beat and we didn’t beat them,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said.

Tech improved to 6-3 on the season with the win and Penn State fell to 5-6.

Forward Tafara Gapare led Tech with 20 points in the game including 15 points in the first half off the bench in 29 minutes. The minutes and scoring were career-highs. Gapare had fallen out of the rotation following a concussion early in the season that threw him off course for a few weeks. In the last two weeks, he has been very effective off the bench in the previous two games at Georiga and in the win over Alabama A&M prior to his big afternoon against Penn State.

"It was a slow start to the season for me," Gapare admitted. "I didn't really see the ball going in the hoop that much and I came out and hit the first shot and the connectivity within our team was really good and we kept the momentum going."

Stoudamire believes Gapare was trying to do too much early in the season.

"When you are as talented as (Gapare) is I think that you become what they call a jack of all trades and a master of none sometimes. I see what he has done and he came back from the concussion and lost himself in the work and he is working when no one is looking. You've seen this coming. It is not about him scoring the ball, that doesn't define him, he can guard five positions, he can go rebound and he is the most athletic player on the floor most nights and he can go impact a game any way he wants to and I think the biggest thing for him is just locking in each and every day and that is what he is trying to do and I'm proud of him."

The Jackets had a chance to put the game away but five late turnovers in the final four-plus minutes of regulation gave Penn State a chance to take the lead late. Senior point guard Kyle Sturdivant was involved with several turnovers as he had five turnovers in the game to go with eight points in 14 minutes.

Freshman Tech point guard Nait George had eight points and eight assists with three turnovers against a savvy Penn State guard crew.

Tech shot just 5-22 from three, but 45.1 percent overall while holding Penn State under 40 percent shooting and to 12-33 from three.

For the Nittany Lions, Kanye Clary led the way with 23 points in 38 minutes and Ace Baldwin Jr. added 18 points on 4-8 shooting from three in 43 minutes of action.

The first half of the game was the Tafara Gapare show for Georgia Tech as he led all scorers with 15 points on 5-7 shooting in the first half including 2-3 from three. The Jackets hit 6-14 from three and led 39-37 at the break behind Gapare’s performance. Baye Ndongo added eight first-half rebounds as the Jackets outrebounded Penn State 26-8 in the first half. Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State at the break with 13 points on 3-4 from downtown.

Tech started very slow missing the first three shots of the game before hitting three straight baskets to pull within three, 12-9 at the first media timeout with 14:22 left in the half. The Nittany Lions hit three three-point shots in a row, but could not extend their lead at the second media timeout with 11:15 left up 20-17 on Tech. Tech tied the game thanks to a Tafara Gapare three and a Kyle Sturdivant turnaround jumper at 22. Tech trimmed the lead to 29-28 Penn State at the third media timeout with 3:53 left. Gapare hit three of four free throws on two trips to give Tech a 31-29 lead with 3:25 left the first lead of the game. Tech extended the run to 7-0 holding Penn State without a FG for over four minutes before a three. Gapare ended the scoring for Tech with a dunk on a lob from Georga, but Ace Baldwin Jr. hit a three at the buzzer to cut the Tech lead to two, 39-37 at the break.

Tech held a 48-47 lead at the first media timeout with 15:07 despite Penn State coming out hot in the second half shooting. Tech went on a 9-0 run to take a 53-47 lead over Penn State on Gapare’s third three of the game leading to a timeout by the Nittany Lions with 13:49 remaining. Tech extended the lead to 8 with 12:28 left 57-49, but a three by Puff Johnson cut the lead to five at the second media timeout. Deebo Coleman hit a corner three to put Tech up 10, 66-56 but D’Marco Dunn responded with his own corner three and Tech led by seven at the third media timeout with 7:36 left. Penn State charged back led by a pair of threes to cut the Tech lead to four and the Jackets turned over the inbound play at the final media timeout with 3:49 left up 71-67. Penn State hit both free throws and then tied up Deebo Coleman in the corner for another turnover but could not cash in, with GT up 71-69. Dunn drew a foul under the basket from Ndongo but missed one of his two free throws. Penn State stole the ball on the inbound and laid it in to take a 72-71 lead. Reeves was fouled on the other end and hit one of two to tie the game at 72. Gapare fouled Baldwin with 36.9 left for a one-and-one, Ndongo grabbed the miss and Stoudamire called a timeout with 34.9 left. Sturdivant turned the ball over again, the fifth for Tech in a 4:04 span to give Penn State the ball with 13.5 left. Baldwin shot an airball to send the game to overtime.

Tech opened the scoring in overtime with a Ndongo putback. State responded on the other end with a putback of their own and Reeves hit a pair of free throws to put GT up 76-74. Johnson hit a three after a pair of bad no-calls against Tech to put Penn State up 77-76. Ndongo hit a bucket to put Tech up 79-78 after landing his 19th rebound tying a school record. Reeves drove the baseline and scored to give GT an 80-79 lead with 35 seconds left. Clary hit a runner with 23 seconds left to put Penn State up 81-80. Reeves missed two shots late and Kelly threw up a prayer and got fouled with 2.1 left. Kelly hit both free throws to put Tech up 82-81.

Tech heads to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic where they face Gapare's former team UMass on Thursday night at 9 pm. Tech will play three games in Hawaii before returning to the mainland on Christmas Day for a long break through the New Year until January 3 when they travel to Florida State.