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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 2, 1994                   TAG: 9403020050
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UVA-TECH NOT LIKELY TO SELL OUT TICKETS REMAIN FOR TONIGHT'S GAME

Only a heavy walk-up sale would result in a sellout for the men's basketball game between Virginia Tech and Virginia at 7:30 tonight at the Roanoke Civic Center, but the crowd should surpass the 8,396 who watched the teams play here in 1992.

Virginia Tech officials said approximately 8,900 tickets had been sold as of Tuesday afternoon. At a comparable stage two years ago, sales were at the 7,300 mark. Capacity is 10,056.

"We were hoping for a sellout, to be honest with you," said Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director, "but it looks like we'll have more than 9,000, and that compares favorably with the last time."

The best remaining tickets will go on sale at 9:30 a.m. at the civic center box office. All seats cost $18.

"If we can move 400 or 500 tickets today, it's going to look like a sellout," said Mark Collins, the civic center's assistant manager. "If we'd had another near-disaster, who knows if the game would be back [in Roanoke]. I would have to say now there is a good chance."

Unlike 1992, when Tech was 7-10 and the Cavaliers 10-8, both teams have winning records. The Hokies are 16-8 after three victories in a row and UVa, despite five losses in its past seven games, is 14-10.

The civic center referred all requests to Blacksburg until recent days, at least one reason that Tech has sold nearly 6,200 tickets - up from 3,200 in 1992.

"Tech certainly has done its part, as far as moving tickets," Collins said.

At one point, it appeared that Tech and UVa would play tonight's game at USAir Arena in Landover, Md., but the game was returned to Roanoke - its original site - in December. The teams had played in Roanoke in even years since 1982.

"We haven't even thought about [future dates]," Braine said Tuesday.

The civic center announced that it will run shuttle buses between the Williamson Road parking garage and the civic center starting at 6:15 p.m., at no cost. The game will be televised by Cox Cable on its local-access station (Channel 9) and on Home Team Sports.

Hokies vs. 'Hoos Tonight's Virginia-Virginia Tech basketball game at the Roanoke Civic Center will be televised live at 7:30 by cable's Home Team Sports, and Cox Cable Roanoke subscribers also will receive the HTS feed on public-service Channel 9.

by CNB