VCU SHOOTS DOWN TECH 86-69 3-POINTERS RUN HOKIES' METRO ROAD LOSING STREAK TO

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993                   TAG: 9302230171
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
VCU SHOOTS DOWN TECH 86-69 3-POINTERS RUN HOKIES' METRO ROAD LOSING STREAK TO
Virginia Tech didn't bleed to death Monday. It was threed to death.
Virginia Commonwealth made a team-record 13 3-pointers, and Tech blew away in the storm. The Rams won 86-69 before 6,208 at the Richmond Coliseum, extending the Hokies' Metro Conference road losing streak under Bill Foster to 10 games.
Tech (9-13 overall, 1-8 in the league) lost its third straight and sixth in its past seven games. VCU (16-7, 6-4) won for the sixth time in its past seven.
The Rams never-minded Tech's shifting defenses and were intrepid in transition, often hoisting 3-pointers on the run.
"You were expecting them to go by you and pitch to someone else," Tech's Shawn Good said. "They'd stop and pull up."
Tech pulled to 50-49 on two Jim Jackson free throws with 15:15 left. But VCU produced its 19-foot, 9-inch billyclub and cold-cocked the Hokies with a 21-5 run over the next 6:40 that included five 3-pointers.
Tech went 0-for-9 from the field and took just 1:34 to go from close to distant.
Terrence Gibson answered Jackson's free throws with a 3-pointer. Tech's Jimmy Carruth lost the ball in the paint, and Tyron McCoy's follow dunk on the fast break gave VCU a 55-49 lead with 14:17 to go.
Carruth backed into position inside but missed a finger roll, and Good missed a tip-in. VCU raced downcourt and Harris hit Gibson for another 3-pointer and a 58-49 lead with 13:41 left.
"We never were able to get it back under control," Foster said.
Harris and Gibson, who had a career-high 20 points, each had two 3-pointers in the run, and Chris Brower had one. VCU has made 42 3-pointers in its past four games and has made 39 of 75 (52 percent) in its past four games against Tech.
"That's our game: inside-outside," said Harris, whose 15 points came on 3-pointers. "We know the pressure's going to be on us to hit those jumpers."
VCU made half its 3-point attempts. Tech kept up for a while, making eight of 16 in the first half, but finished 11-for-25. That tied Tech's season-high for attempts and set a season record for made 3-pointers.
The Rams, however, weren't worried.
"I told them at the half that Virginia Tech couldn't keep living off the threes," VCU coach Sonny Smith said. "They did that because of our game plan. Our deal was not to let anyone get going inside."
That worked. Half of Thomas Elliott's points came on 3-pointers, and the Hokies had only seven field goals from point-blank range.
However, the Hokies outrebounded VCU by one and didn't collapse offensively except for the fatal second-half stretch.
"We played well," said Foster, whose opinion was corroborated by Harris. "That sounds crazy when you lose by 17, but if we play that well the rest of the way, we'll win a couple we're not supposed to."
Tech could not duplicate its previous success in Richmond, a 59-53 upset victory over then-No. 15 Virginia on Jan. 30. The Rams, who overcame a 26-point deficit at South Florida on Saturday with the help of nine 3-pointers, finished 10-2 at home and tied the all-time series with Tech 7-7.
"They came out on fire [in the second half]. We came out a little flat," Hokie Corey Jackson said.
Smith said VCU's crisp ball movement dulled the Hokies' defense and allowed the Rams to shoot 51.6 percent, 60 percent in the second half.
"They weren't getting uncontested threes," Foster said. "I felt like some of the threes really weren't good shots."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB