ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603060018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
Virginia Tech's initial assignment in its first Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournament will be either Rhode Island or La Salle.
The 16th-ranked Hokies, who won at Dayton 73-54 on Saturday to finish 22-4 overall and 13-3 in the A-10, enter the tournament as the No.1 West Division seed. George Washington also finished 13-3, but Tech won the tiebreaker with a better division record.
Tech will open play in Thursday's quarterfinals at 7 p.m. against East No.4 Rhode Island (16-12, 8-8) or West No.5 La Salle (6-23, 3-13). The Rams and Explorers play the 9:30 p.m. finale in Wednesday's first-round session at the Philadelphia Civic Center, La Salle's home floor.
La Salle was awarded the fifth seed in the West on Sunday when Duquesne lost 76-75 to visiting Xavier in the league's final regular-season game. La Salle and Duquesne (9-17, 3-13) finished tied in the league, but the Explorers received the higher seed on the basis of the third tiebreaker - best record against highest-seeded remaining teams in the division.
Tech beat La Salle twice in the regular season, winning 71-55 in Radford on Jan.13 and 61-56 in Philadelphia on Feb.22.
Tech met Rhode Island once, winning 72-66 in overtime in Kingston, R.I., on Feb.3.
If Tech wins its quarterfinal matchup, it figures to catch East No.3 Temple (17-11, 12-4) in Friday's 9:30 p.m. semifinal. Temple, which thrashed the Hokies 57-41 in Philadelphia on Feb. 25, will face the winner of a first-round game between West No.3 Xavier (11-15, 7-9) and East No.6 Fordham (4-22, 2-14) in Thursday's 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal.
In the other bracket, East No.1 seed Massachusetts (28-1, 15-1) and West No.2 GW (20-6, 13-3) also received byes into Thursday's quarters.
UMass will play Thursday at noon against the survivor of a first-round contest between West No.4 Dayton (15-13, 6-10) and East No.5 St. Bonaventure (9-17, 4-12).
GW will play in Thursday's 9:30 p.m. finale against the winner of a first-round game between West No.6 Duquesne (9-17, 3-13) and East No.3 St. Joseph's (14-11, 9-7).
All games after Wednesday's first round will be televised. ESPN will air Thursday's first quarterfinal game, while ESPN2 will carry the second and fourth games. The A-10 Network (via Home Team Sports in this area) will televise the third quarterfinal game, involving Tech, and both of Friday's semifinals.
Saturday's championship game will tip off at 6:30 p.m., and will be televised by ESPN.
Tournament tickets remain on sale on at each league school, the CoreStates Spectrum or Ticketmaster (215-336-2000).
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB