ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
Down in the dumps from back-to-back Atlantic 10 road lashings, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was in desperate need of a soothing tonic.
So who did the Hokies call for relief? Forget the doctor. A house visit by William and Mary will suffice.
Getting William and Mary just when it needed it, Tech broke out of its recent doldrums with a 71-46 blowout in front of 3,681 fans Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum.
Led by David Jackson's 17 points off the bench and some solid defense for a change, Tech climbed back to .500 at 6-6 and once again has its head up.
``Once you get two under,'' said Tech coach Bill Foster, ``it's like climbing up Mount Everest. We're 6-6, but we so easily could be 8-4. Right now it's going to be fighting, day to day, hour to hour, just trying to keep ourselves .500 or above.''
The Hokies, at least those with a sense of history, had to know having the Tribe in the house was a good start. Tech has won 22 of 23 meetings with William and Mary (4-6) since Cassell opened in 1962. Tech is 27-1 versus the Tribe in Blacksburg since 1957.
When Jackson was asked if it was good timing, the senior nodded affirmatively.
``I think it helps you get your confidence back playing a club like them,'' he said. ``We needed to get back in a rhythm and run our offense again. It's easier to do that against this team than a UMass or one of those type teams.''
Jackson, who had been 2-for-10 from the floor since returning from a knee sprain last week, hit five of six 3-pointers en route to a season-high scoring total.
Ace Custis provided his usual numbers - 16 points, 10 rebounds - and point guard Troy Manns had a strong game with 10 points and nine assists.
Sparked by Jackson's 11 points in seven minutes, Tech opened up a 36-19 lead with 3:01 left in the first half and appeared to be on cruise control.
But the Tribe, missing two key contributors because of injuries, rattled off a 10-0 spurt bridging halftime to close to 36-29 with 18:49 to play.
Tech finally put the hammer down, ripping off 16 unanswered points to go up by 23. William and Mary, which hit just 17 of 52 shots, went nine minutes without a point during the decisive stretch.
``We couldn't find the hole,'' said Charlie Woollum, Tribe coach. ``Our guards were 2-for-12 and our bench was 0-for-8. That says it all.''
Tech, which has been in a shooting slump itself, didn't exactly put any lights out. The Hokies had a bunch of good looks, but could get only 28 of 66 shots to go in the basket.
Foster pointed at the inside group of Shawn Browne, Keefe Matthews, Russ Wheeler and Alvaro Tor, who were a combined 5-of-24 from the field.
``That's the downside,'' Foster said. ``We were getting shots from here to that camera [about eight feet]. We've got to score inside better than that.
``We got 66 shots. If we'd shot our hat size, we'd scored 95 points.''
Jackson said the victory helped take some of the sting out of the Hokies' losses at Xavier and Duquesne.
``We were upset, embarrassed, you name it,'' he said. ``We should have beaten Duquesne. It was critical we come out and play well tonight.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for text
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. Virginia Tech's Ace Custis (left) andby CNBRuss Wheeler apply the defensive pressure to William and Mary's
David Grabuloff during the first half of the Hokies' 71-46 romp.