Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
In a game that could have seriously dented their hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid if they had lost, the Hokies were extended to the final horn before escaping with a 77-74 victory over upstart Wright State.
In the same scenario as their three-point victory at Marquette on Jan.17, the Hokies watched a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer clang off the rim before securing their 17th victory in 22 games.
``We're lucky to get out of this one,'' said Bill Foster, Tech's coach. ``We didn't play very well and we know it. But somehow we got out alive.''
On a night they appeared a step slow and out of sync on offense, the Hokies managed to survive before a hostile Nutter Center crowd of 7,618.
After squandering a 12-point second-half lead, the Hokies found themselves down 59-58 when the Raiders' Rick Martinez drained a 3-point goal with 8 minutes, 1 second left.
With the crowd revved up and Wright State (8-13) believing it could win, Tech found the score tied at 66 with 31/2 minutes left.
Despite being in serious foul trouble - Tech had four players on the floor with four personals - the Hokies realized what was at stake and decided enough was enough.
``We knew we had to step up,'' said Damon Watlington, a Tech junior guard. ``We couldn't afford to lose to somebody like Wright State and expect to go to the NCAA.''
Watlington came up huge down the stretch, hitting three critical mid-range jumpers when Tech desperately needed a score.
With the Hokies leading 72-70 and 1:22 left, Watlington hit a 15-footer off the dribble on the break with 1:15 left to put Tech up by four.
After 6-foot-10 Vitaly Potapenko scored on a stick-back to cut Tech's lead to 74-72, Watlington canned a 17-footer with 21 seconds showing to put the Hokies up by four again.
But Wright State countered on its trip as Rob Welch hit a jumper with 13 seconds left to make it 76-74.
The Raiders fouled Tech's Shawn Good on the inbounds play. Good swished the first free throw, but his second caromed out, leaving Tech up three.
Needing a 3-pointer to force overtime, the Raiders worked the ball to Martinez, stationed deep on the right wing. Martinez uncorked a high-arching shot over a wave of Tech defenders that caught the rim long and bounded away as the horn sounded.
Foster, showing more emotion than usual, was the first up off the Tech bench, raising his arms in victory. The veteran coach didn't have to be told his club had dodged the proverbial bullet on a snowy night in Ohio.
``It's hard to get jacked up 29 times a year,'' Foster said. ``We got a big lead early [19-5] and I think our guys sort of thought this might be easy.
``Hand it to Wright State: They were much more aggressive than we were in the second half and they had us on the run. That, plus the way the game was called - there were a lot of ticky-tack fouls called inside - made it a tough night.''
Tech won despite the fact Shawn Smith was on the bench for nine minutes in the second half with four fouls. The Tech junior fouled out with 1:23 left.
Smith's inside mates, Ace Custis and Travis Jackson, each finished with four fouls. They had their hands full with Potapenko, who at 270 pounds is more than a presence in the paint.
``He's going to be a pro prospect,'' Foster said of Potapenko, who finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
``He's good,'' Smith said of Potapenko, a sophomore transfer student from Kiev State University. ``But the refs wouldn't let me play defense. You put a body on the guy and it was a foul.''
Six Hokies scored in double figures, led by Watlington's 19 points.
Tech, which had shot 55.2 percent its last four games, hit 25 of 54 shots (46.3 percent). Thanks to Potapenko, Wright State outscored Tech 30-16 in the paint.
``We dodged one here,'' Smith said. ``I don't care if it was ugly. When the NCAA looks at this one at the end of the year, all it will see is that `W' and that's all that counts.''
by CNB