ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601290103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES - and has fun - in Virginia Tech's 81-57 win.
Coming off its unwanted lead role in Thursday's horror film at George Washington, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team decided it was time to return to its old comedy routine.
Admittedly feeling the weight of great expectations and their meteoric rise to No.8 in the Associated Press poll, the Hokies finally said enough to this dead-serious stuff Saturday.
``We all just wanted to go out and have some fun again, like the way it used to be,'' said Shawn Good, a senior guard for Tech.
The prescription worked. In a perfectly timed laugher, the Hokies had all the fun they wanted Saturday afternoon in an 81-57 Atlantic 10 Conference blowout of Fordham in front of 9,212 fans at Cassell Coliseum.
The fun day at the office for Tech (13-2 overall, 6-1 A-10) was helped by the sight of Fordham (2-14, 0-7). The Rams, who have only two scholarship players on their roster, are likely bets to pump life into any opposing team's party.
``We're the Sisters of the Poor and we're playing the No.8 team in the country,'' said Nick Macarchuk, the Rams' coach. ``Everyone thinks that they can beat us, and thus far, they've been right.''
After leading only 25-18 at halftime, the Hokies got most of the their kicks in the second half, outscoring the visitors from the Bronx 56-39.
Everybody got a laugh or two for Tech. Ten Hokies played at least 10 minutes. Twelve of Tech's 13 players - freshman center Alvaro Tor was the exception - scored.
Nevertheless, Tor contributed. His teammates erupted in laughter when he failed to draw iron on a free throw with 17 seconds left.
``When we're sitting over there and Alvaro is shooting free throws, hey, we know we're having fun,'' Good said. ``It's nice to see all the guys play. It means everybody is enjoying themselves.''
The results left Tech coach Bill Foster smiling, too. The veteran coach said his team - himself included - had become too tight in its attempt to run with college basketball's big boys.
``I felt like we all have got caught up so much in the success we've had that the game is not as much fun,'' Foster said. ``I know a couple of kids have said to me that they're not having as much fun this year at 12-2 as we were last year at whatever we were at the same stage [11-3]. And that's my fault as a coach. I've got to make it fun for the guys. I told 'em before the game that we're going to make it fun again.''
Rectifying what he called ``one of my mistakes,'' Foster decided he was going to go 10 deep regardless of the score or situation. Forward David Jackson and guard Myron Guillory, two big helpers on last season's 25-10 National Invitation Tournament championship team, finally got some decent minutes from the Nos.9 and 10 spots.
``We've gotten to playing it too close to the vest, going with only seven or eight guys,'' Foster said. ``And when you think back, Myron and David probably had as much to do with the success we had last year as any two guys on the team.
``I thought that team today for us looked a lot more like the team we got used to watching last year. They played really well together, no matter which combination of people we put in there. I felt the team was tighter and more focused as a group than we have been in a long time.''
It certainly helps spread the wealth around. Seven Hokies scored eight or more points. Shawn Smith's modest 12 points paced Tech. Damon Watlington had 11 and Guillory a season-high 10.
Tech's star, Ace Custis, had four points and a team-high eight rebounds in 32 minutes. Incredibly, Custis didn't score until he hit a 14-foot jumper with 4:26 to play that made it 68-43.
``We had a real spread in our scoring ... guys who are leading scorers didn't score a lot and I don't think it bothered them,'' Foster said. ``So we need to get back to that collective-responsibility thing where nobody is worried about numbers and stats and everybody is worried about the end result, and that's team play. My job is make it fun again and get everybody involved.''
That approach certainly worked in the second half as Tech hit 20 of 29 shots (69 percent) to put away the Rams.
``This feels nice coming off GW,'' Good said, referring to the Hokies' 64-47 loss Thursday. ``Everybody came into practice yesterday saying, like, `That's not going to happen again.' Nobody was happy with the way we played [against the Colonials]. I think we showed the way we can play at least a little bit today.
``We've been ranked and we've been pressing too much. Today we decided to have some fun and you see the result.''
The Hokies hope to hold their next laugh-in Monday night at Cassell against St.Joseph's (7-7, 2-3), a 54-52 loser to Temple on Saturday.
``I think this is the way it has to be,'' Good said. ``Today was sort of like old times around here.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Fordham's Ray Carroll (right)by CNBattempts to hold off Tech's Damon Watlington during their Atlantic
10 basketball game on Saturday at Cassell Coliseum. color. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL