Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 11, 1994 TAG: 9402110154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The Hokies trailed VCU by a basket with less than two minutes left when Rams guard Kenny Harris dribbled into the lane and lost the ball off one of his feet.
Tech's Jim Jackson swatted at it but couldn't control it, and VCU's Terrence Gibson accepted the loose ball and swished a 3-pointer that gave the Rams a five-point lead with 1 minute, 19 seconds left en route to an 81-75 victory over Tech.
The Hokies lost their fifth consecutive game - and their fifth in a row to VCU - before 4,624 noisy fans at the Richmond Coliseum. The Coliseum estimated 3,495 no-shows because of bad weather.
Tech (13-7 overall, 2-6 in the Metro Conference) got a career-high 27 points from Shawn Smith, outrebounded VCU and watched Box score in Scoreboard. B8 Rams star Kendrick Warren depart with five fouls at the 2:14 mark. But it was VCU (12-8, 4-3), coming off an eight-day break, that broke its three-game losing streak.
"I'd rather have a `W' " said Smith, who combined with guard Damon Watlington for 39 points off the bench.
Either or both could start Tech's next game Tuesday at home against No. 22 Marquette, Tech coach Bill Foster said.
Smith, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound sophomore, had 18 second-half points as the Hokies twice whittled an eight-point halftime deficit to two.
"People say, `If he was 6 foot 8 . . . ' " Foster said. "If he was 6-8, he'd be wearing sky blue [at North Carolina]."
Smith couldn't do anything to prevent Gibson's 3-pointer. Tech trailed 72-67 with 3:35 left before wide-open Jim Jackson, who has been slumping, hit a left-corner 3-pointer after a think-twice pump-fake.
Warren made a turnaround jumper with Tech's Ace Custis in his face to make it 74-70 VCU with 2:50 left.
Two possessions later, Custis' follow dunk made it 74-72 VCU with 1:52 left.
Then, Gibson speared the Hokies, picking up the loose ball as the shot clock wound down and firing instantly.
"It went in clean," Smith said. "I was thinking, `What can go our way?' "
Gibson wasn't pondering anything.
"It's an easy shot - you don't think about the shot," Gibson said. "Form and technique take over."
In the first half, Harris' buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave VCU an eight-point lead. Tech had used a 12-3 run late in the first half to cut a 12-point deficit to three before Harris scored the last five points of the half.
Of Harris' and Gibson's shots, Foster said: "You want to scream."
The Rams scored quietly, too, making 21 of 25 free throws - including 13 of 16 in the second half. Tech, on the other hand, missed three free throws when it trailed by five or fewer points in the second half.
The Hokies never led, following their habit of falling behind early. Tech trailed Southern Mississippi 17-4 in its previous game and fell behind 20-7 on Thursday.
VCU coach Sonny Smith credited his team's free-throw shooting, perimeter defense, second-half rebounding (22-19, Tech) and bench players Marc Jackson and George Byrd (combined 4-for-7 with 12 rebounds) for the victory.
Foster, whose Hokies teams have lost 16 consecutive Metro road games, once again saw Tech come close but lose.
"That last 30 minutes was as well as we played offensively [in the losing streak], and I thought we defended well on the perimeter," Foster said. "I thought we gave 'em too much underneath.
"I've got to push 'em and stay after them, but I've got to be patient," said Foster, whose Tech teams have lost at least five consecutive games in each of the past three years. "I've been there before. They haven't."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB