Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503210055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Ace Custis' cool-headed precision? Shawn Smith's eagle shooting eye from outside? A trip to scenic Rhode Island for a second-round match with Providence College at 7:30 p.m. Monday?
None of the above.
``Being on ESPN,'' said Smith, who polished up his game with 16 points and his on-camera delivery afterward.
Those sentiments did not surprise Tech coach Bill Foster.
``That's a bigger carrot than going to the second round,'' said Foster, who coached against his former team for the first time. ``It's important. If you're never on ESPN, nobody knows who you are outside Christiansburg.''
Count on it that Providence is going to know who the Hokies are after the job they did on Clemson. Tech (21-10) had only six turnovers while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor for the game. Furthermore, the Hokies got double-figure scoring from four players, led by guard Damon Watlington's 20.
``If we spread it around, we're pretty good,'' Foster said.
Clemson (15-13), which has at times had a difficult season under first-year coach Rick Barnes, hung in until the finish. The Tigers were within three points (47-44) when Bruce Martin sank one of his four second-half 3-point goals with 3:44 left, but Smith may have made the shot of the game 1:24 later when he broke loose and popped a 3-pointer.
``I was wide open because they were dropping down on Ace inside,'' Smith said. ``As soon as it left my hand I knew it was going in.''
It was one of those shots that makes a coach wonder if the shirt he picked out for the evening isn't a size too small.
``He's not afraid to gamble,'' Foster said.
The Hokies then made 12 of their last 14 free-throw attempts to hold on for the victory. Watlington made his last four and finished 6-for-7 from the free-throw line. David Jackson was 5-for-7 on free-attempts and scored 15 points.
``When Clemson cut it to three, I was worried that it would turn into a free-throw shooting contest and we haven't been very good in that department [68.9 percent for the year],'' Foster said. ``Fortunately, however, we hit our free throws when it counted.''
Custis scored 10 points and hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds, but that wasn't enough to keep Clemson from holding a 29-26 advantage on the backboards.
If there were lingering bad vibes for Tech from being snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, as had been suggested in some quarters, it certainly was not apparent in the first half.
The Hokies' play was crisp and purposeful, their energy level obviously boosted by a loud and appreciative audience of 6,621. Except for a dry spell for a couple of minutes starting at about the 8-minute mark, Tech was being productive with virtually every possession.
Tech made 13 of 23 field-goal attempts in the first half (56.5 percent), not bad against the ACC's fourth-ranked field-goal percentage defense. Teams had been shooting 43.5 against the Tigers.
Jackson and Custis were causing most of the damage. Custis hit all but one of his six shots, not an easy one among them, for 10 points. Jackson buried two of four 3-pointers en route to 11.
Clemson wasn't having such a smooth time of it offensively in the hot and humid Cassell atmosphere, shooting 37.5 percent.
The teams swapped the lead six times in the first 9:32 before the Hokies seized the initiative for the rest of the half. Tech led by 11 points before Greg Buckner scored two unanswered hoops in the last 1:21 to make the score 32-25, Tech, at intermission.
The Hokies kept the pressure on to start the second half by embarking on an 11-7 run with Smith shaking loose inside to accept sharply delivered entry passes and score six points.
Clemson missed six free throws in two-shot situations after Smith had put the Hokies up 40-27.
``That hurt us,'' Barnes said.
Clemson was led by Martin, who scored 12 of his 18 points after the break. Martin had to stop several times with an apparent cramping problem. Buckner chipped in 12 points and Merl Code 11. Code made only three of 10 shots as the Tigers shot 40.8 percent (20-of-49) for the game.
``That offense is very different,'' Custis said. ``We haven't seen anything like it all year.''
On the Tech side, a tournament the players might not have been so tickled with a week ago was looking pretty good now.
``It's a step down from the NCAA,'' Custis said. ``But for Virginia Tech, it's a step up.''
NOTE: PLease see microfilm for scores.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB