ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 1, 1996 TAG: 9612020113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HILO, HAWAII
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
Stick Ace Custis on an island, give him a Thanksgiving-week tournament, and the guy goes crazy.
Matching his career-high scoring feast set two years ago in Puerto Rico, Custis erupted for 30 points and 17 rebounds as Virginia Tech smoked Hawaii-Hilo 101-73 in the Big Island Invitational early Saturday.
The impressive season-opening performance advanced the Hokies into the semifinals today (12:45 a.m. EDT) against Colorado (2-0), a 78-72 first-round winner over Auburn.
Illinois (2-0) and Louisville (1-0) met in the other semifinal.
The estimated 1,500 spectators and the handful of NBA scouts who hung around the cozy Afook Chinen Civic Auditorium for the first-round finale witnessed a late-night show by Custis.
The hard-working 6-foot-7 forward certainly Aced his first big test coming off September surgery on his left knee.
"That Custis, man, he can play,'' a Hilo staff member said after the game.
Custis, who had 30 points in a Tech win over Nebraska in the 1994 San Juan Shootout, was 8-for-14 from the floor and 13-for-14 from the free-throw line.
"Ace must like these island tournaments,'' Tech coach Bill Foster noted.
Custis is off to a flying start in his senior season. Since the Hokies lost four starters from last year's team, Custis will be counted on to score more than last season's 13.4 average.
"We've still got a bunch on people on this team who can put the ball in the hole,'' said Custis.
"But when I get my position in close to the goal, I've got to take advantage of that. Inside, if they can't come and double-team me, I feel like I can take a man one-on-one in the post.''
Custis' outside shot appears to have improved from last season. And, as usual, he rebounded like a mad man.
"It's really nice to see him get that active on the glass,'' Foster said. "He did it all.''
Custis had plenty of help. Senior forward David Jackson had 15 points off the bench, senior center Keefe Matthews had 13 points in 14 minutes, and junior guard Myron Guillory and backup center Alvaro Tor added 10 points each.
Point guard Troy Manns of Roanoke was superb, scoring eight points, registering a team-high eight assists and grabbing six rebounds in 32 minutes.
The Division II Vulcans gave Tech all it wanted for a while. The run-and-gun hosts hung close (66-57) for 27 minutes behind sharp-shooting 6-10 center Scott Tharp, who had all but three of his 27 points during that span.
Finally, Tech adjusted and erupted like one of the live volcanos that dot Hawaii's Big Island. The Hokies, running end-to-end jam drills, waved aloha to Hilo for good with a 21-5 run to go up 87-62 with five minutes left.
After the game, Foster said he plans to redshirt 6-8 freshman forward Jesus Rodriguez. NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Virginia Tech's Jim Jackson (left) gets his shotby CNBblocked by the University of Hawaii-Hilo's Merriel Jenkins (far
right) while teammate Travis Lindstrom looks on during their game in
the Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii.