ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
During Monday's Atlantic 10 Conference coaches' teleconference, Virginia Tech's Bill Foster was asked for his assessment of Duquesne.
``I think [the Dukes] are going to be a headache for everybody from here on out, including us,'' Foster said.
Well, the Dukes almost left Foster and his 11th-ranked Hokies with the migraine of all time Tuesday night.
After bolting to a 15-point halftime cushion and leading by 17 with 15:45 left, Tech was pushed to the limit before dispatching the 17-point underdog Dukes 69-63 in front of 6,632 fans at Cassell Coliseum.
While the Hokies (17-2 overall, 9-1 A-10) held on for their 16th consecutive home-court victory, they couldn't feel good about it. The Dukes (8-11, 3-7), paced by sophomore guard Mike James' career-high 28 points, nearly pulled off one of the biggest steals of the college basketball season.
After climbing back in the game with a 10-0 run that sliced a 45-28 Tech lead to seven with 13:25 left, Duquesne drew to 63-60 when the unstoppable James drove and scored with 1:12 to play.
After Ace Custis misfired on a 12-footer on Tech's ensuing trip down the floor, James penetrated from the right wing and missed. Duquesne's Nick Bosnic grabbed the rebound, but his follow attempt was partially blocked by Tech's Shawn Smith.
There was a lot of contact on the play, but no whistle was blown.
``I definitely think Bosnic got fouled, but the refs didn't see it that way,'' James said.
``A couple of calls didn't go our way. I thought we were going to win the game, but we were playing a good team on the road, and it was definitely eight [counting the three officials] against five tonight.''
For the longest time, it looked like Tech - in a rout. The Hokies, keyed by a 17-point scoring blitz by backup center Keefe Matthews, shot 58 percent from the field in the first half and went to the locker room leading 39-24.
Matthews, who had scored a combined 16 points in Tech's past six games, was the beneficiary of some great passing by his teammates, who set up the 6-foot-8 junior with room-service assists for seven easy layups and dunks.
``I had such a terrible game [at Rhode Island on Saturday], that I knew I had to come back strong,'' Matthews said. ``On this team, you have to come off the bench and contribute. That's what makes this team so strong.''
The Hokies were anything but strong in the second half, however. Tech reacted as if it never had seen a zone defense, looking very tentative on offense and getting few good looks at the basket.
``Nobody ever said they'd all be pretty, and that one certainly wasn't from our standpoint, especially the second half,'' Foster said. ``We weren't very aggressive looking for our shots, and once [the Dukes] knew they had a chance to win, they had a chance to win.''
Senior guard Damon Watlington finally stepped up and bailed out Tech. With nobody else willing to shoot, Watlington took over, scoring 15 second-half points. He had 13 of Tech's final 20 points.
Watlington said the Hokies never should have let this one turn into such a scrap at the end.
``It's kind of frustrating we can't seem to put teams away,'' he said. ``We tend to let teams back in all the time. I feel we tend to play better when our backs are against the wall.''
Watlington and Matthews led Tech with 17 points each. Tech, which hit only nine of 25 second-half field-goal attempts, shot 48 percent for the game, including 2-for-16 on 3-pointers.
It was another number - the crowd figure - that riled Foster most, however.
``I can't imagine where we are - ranked and 16-2 - and we have a crowd like we had tonight,'' Foster said. ``I don't know where the people are. They keep yelling about `wait till you see the Cassell full every night,' and I'm still waiting to see it full one time this year. Full. Really full.
``We've got to get on board if we're going to get this thing going. There wasn't anybody afraid to play in that place tonight. It was a hell of a lot tougher for us to play at Duquesne than it was for them to come play here.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Virginia Tech's Travis Jackson (right)by CNBrises to the occasion to block a shot by Duquesne's Matt Curley
during Tuesday night's game at Cassell Coliseum. color. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL