Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9411280035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO LENGTH: Medium
David Jackson was key, and so were Ace Custis and Shawn Good, but how about those broom guys?
An afternoon rainshower packed the heavy air with moisture, some of which settled on the Eugenio Guerra Coliseum floor and turned Friday's basketball game between Virginia Tech and Montana State into a duel of pratfalls.
Virginia Tech won, 69-62, as the Hokies stayed upright long enough for Jackson to make three important 3-pointers in the second half, the last of which made it 60-58 Tech with 5 minutes, 50 seconds left.
That basket cut off a 6-0 Bobcat run and the Hokies never trailed again in winning the opening game of the eight-team Puerto Rico Shootout. At 3 p.m. today, Tech (1-0) plays Nebraska, a 99-77 winner over Northeast Louisiana, in the Shootout's second round.
Friday afternoon, the guys with the brooms took to swiping the open end of the floor almost every time the teams changed ends.
``It was like ice,'' Jackson said, adding that the ball was hard and slick, too.
The frequent moppings didn't always suit Tech coach Bill Foster.
``I'd just like for 'em to mop both ends,'' said Foster, who at one point during a break hollered for them to do just that.
The Hokies didn't take care of both ends of the floor, either, committing 20 turnovers (15 in the first half) against the Bobcats' extended man-to-man, but outrebounding Montana State (0-1) 45-27 and helping the Bobcats shoot 38 percent from the field.
Nine of Custis' career-high-tying 16 rebounds came in the first half; 13 were defensive rebounds.
``Basically, I was just trying to go to the glass and get a couple rebounds here and there,'' Custis said.
Tech had a 25-10 rebounding edge at halftime, but it had blown an 11-4 lead and needed Good's jumper with 43 seconds left to tie it at 27 at the break.
But the short-handed Hokies ended the game with a 12-4 run to assure themselves of starting the season on an upper.
After a turnover-filled first half that included a couple of bricked jumpers, Jackson's first second-half 3-pointer broke a 45-45 tie with 11:06 left. His second made it 57-52 Hokies with 7:23 to go, and his third gave Tech the lead for good.
``I don't look at the score. I try not to do that,'' said Jackson, the twin brother of Tech's Jim, who transferred to Tech from North Carolina-Asheville last year. ``I just play, and if the shot's there, I take it.''
The Bobcats occasionally found open spots behind the 3-point line and made seven of 20, including four bonus shots in five trips down the floor to take a 45-40 lead with 13:55 left. Otherwise, Tech's man-to-man and defensive rebounding clouded the Big Sky Conference team's chances.
``That's the way we can play if we get into a pretty good rhythm,'' MSU coach Mick Durham said. ``Tech, I thought, really clamped down defensively and really made it tough for us down the stretch.''
Swingman Nico Harrison, who should have been the focus of MSU's offense, was 1-for-4 from the field and had two points.
Durham also complained about his team's missed free throws, but the Bobcats simply matched Tech's 7-for-15 inefficiency.
Foster was more pleased with Tech's rebounding and defense, and with Good. The point guard played 40 minutes, getting 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and committed just two turnovers.
``I was trying to be [a leader]. I don't know if I was or not,'' Good said.
Shawn Smith has an opinion, noting that Good and Custis were mentally strong when Tech might have withered in a steamy gym against a team that used eight players for at least 16 minutes.
``The heart they showed affected the other players,'' Smith said.
Custis missed three minutes when he fell and banged his left hip, but returned with 6:54 left in the first half.
And down the stretch, Custis - who switched from power forward to small forward this year - wound up guarding Montana State's 6-foot-10 senior center Dwayne Michaels.
After Tech took a 60-58 lead, Michaels missed over Custis inside, and Tech's sophomore forward passed to Smith for a layup and foul. Smith's free throw made it 65-60 with 2:20 left. Tech made four of six free throws in the last 37 seconds to stay ahead.
``We had a lot of zing in the last two or three minutes,'' Foster said.
No one's viability was more surprising than Smith's. He lost 30 pounds over the summer.
``If I was at 280 or 285, I probably would've passed out on the floor,'' Smith said.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB