Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993 TAG: 9302020321
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
HOKIES ESCAPE 70-66
Virginia Tech's toil Monday against William and Mary came down to this:A sneaker sole. And a 70-66 victory.
The Tribe's Thomas Roberts' bid to turn an otherwise ordinary game into lore failed when his tying 3-pointer from the left corner was waved off with 21.2 seconds left because he stepped out of bounds before he shot.
Last Monday, Kurt Small's 3-pointer from the same spot on the floor in Williamsburg forced overtime with Virginia. A week later, Shawn Good's seven points in the final minute saved Tech the same trouble before 3,511 at Cassell Coliseum.
Neither Tribe coach Chuck Swenson nor Roberts argued official Dick Paparo's call.
"It went in, and the next thing I know, I'm looking around and everybody's jumping up and down," Roberts said of the Tech fans' reaction.
Bill Foster was skeptical.
"All I could see is the ball going through, and that really bothered me," Tech's coach said.
The disallowed bucket left the Hokies ahead 67-64. Tech's Jim Jackson made one of two free throws with 21.2 seconds left.
The Tribe missed a 3-pointer, but Tech's Jay Purcell fouled Todd Cauthorn in the scramble for the rebound. Cauthorn hit twice to make it 68-66 with 12 seconds to go. Tech's Shawn Smith threw long to an open Thomas Elliott, whose alley-oop was dunked by Good as the buzzer sounded.
Tech won its second straight and is 8-7 entering two Metro Conference home games this week: Tulane on Thursday and Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday.
William and Mary fell to 10-8 by losing for the third time in its past four games.
Good's career-high 17 points and five rebounds - all offensive - helped.
His three-point play off a spinning dribble-drive had given Tech a 65-61 lead with a minute to go, and his two free throws gave the Hokies their 67-64 lead with 29.8 seconds left to set up Roberts' misstep.
A 57 percent free-throw shooter, Good made all five tries Monday.
"That goes with the Virginia game," Good said of Tech's dramatic six-point win in Richmond on Saturday. "Everyone's starting to gain more confidence.
"I just want to help the team. I don't want to lose a bunch of games this year."
Elliott added 19 points, 15 in the second half when he repeatedly posted up against Cauthorn and Roberts. Five of his six field goals came in the paint.
It was another yo-yo game for Elliott, who until going scoreless against Virginia, had piled up 73 points in his previous four games. "We recognized it was working, so we kept going to it," Elliott said. "I was trying to be aggressive in the first half but got a couple of fouls. Sitting on the bench helped me realize how I could help the team."
Tech's defense, again, inflicted hurt. W&M shot 39.1 percent from the field, the eighth time in the past 10 games a Tech opponent has shot under 40 percent from the field.
The Tribe, which shoots 36 percent from 3-point range, made only 2 of 15 (13.3 percent) Monday.
"It's the worst 3-point shooting night we've had all year," Swenson said. "There was nothing to really infuse our offense."
Tech, conversely, got five first-half points each from Travis Jackson and Damon Watlington, who hadn't been offensive contributors.
Still, the Hokies never led by more than seven, the last time with 3:10 left after an Elliott free throw.
Against Virginia, W&M blew away a 23-point deficit in 13:17 to tie it. It took the Tribe 1:01 to do away with the Hokies' seven-point bulge.
Two free throws by Roberts were followed by a Cauthorn steal.
Small, who had scored 73 points in his last three games, converted a three-point play to make it 61-59.
Smith threw away the inbounds pass, and Roberts scored on a scoop shot to tie the score with 2:08 left.
Purcell's free throw gave Tech a 62-61 lead with 2:03 to go. Small then got free for a back-door layup, but Tech's 6-10 Jimmy Carruth made him change the shot. He missed and Tech rebounded.
Good then converted his three-point play. Seconds later, Smith's inbounds pass was stolen and Cauthorn was fouled. He made one of two to leave the Tribe behind 65-64.
Good swished two free throws before Roberts' ill-fated 3-point attempt.
Foster said Tech's comeback against Virginia, accomplished mostly by freshmen, may have a long-term effect.
"It washed away a lot of thought about whether the freshmen ought to be getting a lot of minutes," he said. "It did as much to bring this club together . . . as anything we could do." \
see microfilm for box score
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