Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Proving that paybacks can, indeed, be hell, the Hokies forcefully took Xavier to the woodshed, spanking the stunned Musketeers 82-55 in front of 4,173 approving fans at Cassell Coliseum.
The victory avenged Tech's worst loss of last year's 18-10 season - a 33-point drubbing by Xavier in Cincinnati.
``Yesterday before practice, Coach [Bill Foster] stuck up the headline from last year's game above everybody's locker,'' said junior guard Damon Watlington, whose career-high 23 points led Tech's get-even drill.
``I don't remember exactly what the headline said, but whatever it was, it wasn't good for us. We were ready to play after seeing that, believe me.''
Seeing was believing.
For the second time in three days at home, the Hokies (4-1) turned a game into Romper Room. Except this was Xavier, not William and Mary.
``We felt we could win, but we never dreamed it would be by that margin,'' said Foster, whose club has beaten two perennial postseason players - Xavier and Nebraska.
``But this is a game our players have been aiming toward. They remembered the 33-point loss at Cincinnati last year. We didn't have to say much. Our guys remembered.''
And responded with a vengeance.
Watlington's 23 points paced five Hokies in double figures. Sophomore Ace Custis and junior guard Shawn Good each had 14, and sophomore reserve guard David Jackson had a career-high 13. Junior forward Shawn Smith added 10.
Xavier (3-1), which has four starters back from last year's 22-8 NIT club, had only one player - senior forward Pete Sears (15) - in double digits.
Tech ran off nine unanswered points to snap a 4-4 tie and never looked back. Xavier hit only one of its first 12 shots, including a 7:21 span without a hoop, against Tech's suffocating halfcourt defense.
Tech committed 14 turnovers in the first half, most coming at the expense of Xavier's stifling full-court press. But some strong shooting - the Hokies made 14 of their first 20 shots - took care of those blunders.
After Xavier drew within 32-26 on Sears' two free throws with 1 minute, 25 seconds left, Tech scored the final three baskets, the last two by Custis, to make it 38-26 at halftime.
Tech hit its first seven shots of the second half, including a pair of resounding dunks by the spring-legged Good and another jam by Custis off a lob pass from Good, to extend the cushion to 53-33. Xavier never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.
With Tech leading 56-40, Watlington turned the game into his own show, scoring 12 unanswered points to pump the Hokies' bulge to 28 with 7 minutes left.
``I haven't had a flurry like that since high school,'' said Watlington, whose previous career high was 18 points.
``It was a nice game for a lot of our people. I'm telling you, this team can be as good as it wants to be.''
Right now, it's better than anybody could have expected.
``I think maybe we'll get the fans back now,'' said Good, referring to the small turnouts for the first two home games.
``I think we should get some respect after beating teams like Nebraska and Xavier. To tell you the truth, I think if we play like we can, we can beat a lot of the top teams in America.''
The only downer for Tech was a mild ankle sprain suffered by junior center Travis Jackson with 9:17 to play. ``We'll have to wait until [today] to see how bad it is,'' Foster said.
by CNB