ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701200127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
Reports that Virginia Tech had righted its men's basketball ship obviously were somewhat premature.
Showing their recent three-game win streak may have been a mere tease, the Hokies went down like the Titanic on Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum.
In a devastating dunking in front of 6,424 witnesses, Tech sank to uncharted depths in a 73-52 Atlantic 10 loss to Rhode Island.
The 21-point loss matched the worst setback in Tech's 444-game, 36-year history at Cassell. It dropped the Hokies to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in the league.
Now the Hokies need life preservers. Fast. On the double.
``This was a huge game for us,'' forward David Jackson said in a quiet home locker room.
``It hurts. Here we want more fans to come watch us play, and they finally came. ESPN2 was here. And we play that bad.
``This is an ugly loss for us. They didn't just beat us, they really pounded us.''
The Rams (11-4, 5-0) buried the Hokies in an eight-minute avalanche bridging the first and second halves.
After tying the score at 24 on Keefe Matthews' stickback with 2:49 left in the first half, Tech didn't score again until Ace Custis hit a 10-foot jumper with 14:40 left in the game.
While Tech was killing itself with a multitude of missed shots, turnovers and blown defensive assignments, Rhode Island was enjoying a rare visitors' feast inside Cassell.
Talk about Rhode kill. The Rams ripped off 16 unanswered points during Tech's swoon to bolt to a 40-24 bulge.
The beleaguered Hokies, stifled by 19 turnovers and poor shooting (19-of-58) against URI's expansive zone, were swimming against high tide the rest of the way.
Tech got back within 44-33 with 11:13 left, but a retaliatory 7-2 spurt by the Rams quickly built the lead back to 16. Rhode Island, which outscored Tech 45-28 in the second half, opened the cushion to as much as 68-44 with 2:28 left before settling for the final margin.
Tech coach Bill Foster, who had been encouraged by his club's recent play, couldn't find any answers for this mess.
``We didn't play real well,'' Foster said. ``Our kids are hurt. I thought Troy Manns did some pretty good things and I thought Keefe Matthews was a bright spot, at times. Other than that, the rest of us didn't get a lot done.''
The Hokies, who scored the game's first seven points, seemed fine offensively until the Rams went to a wide zone. Forced outside, the Hokies couldn't hit the 3-pointer - they were 1-for-10 beyond the arc.
When Tech did get the ball inside, it repeatedly blew easy looks. Matthews, the only Hokie in double figures with 10 points, and the rest of Tech's inside corps - Custis, Shawn Browne and Russ Wheeler - were a combined 9-for-35 from the floor.
Matthews collected a career-high 12 rebounds, but looked like a turnstile on defense. Michael Anderson, URI's 7-foot, 250-pound battleship, beat Matthews for most of his game-high 21 points.
Custis, who had called this a ``revenge'' game for Tech's loss to the Rams in last year's A-10 tournament, was held to a season-low eight points.
``I didn't play the type of game I wanted to,'' Custis said.
Elsewhere, the Hokies got little out of the Jackson twins, who were a combined 1-for-9 from the floor. David Jackson had eight points, all but three coming from the free-throw line, while Jim Jackson failed to score in 18 minutes.
``Just one of those games,'' David Jackson said. ``We knew what we wanted to do, but we couldn't do it. Rhode Island got the momentum and it seemed they hit everything they put up. Meanwhile, we couldn't make a layup.''
Besides Anderson, point guard Tyson Wheeler did most of the damage for Rhode Island, scoring 15 points - all via 3-pointers.
The victory in their first A-10 trip to Blacksburg left the Rams in a good mood. Coach Al Skinner said his troops had taken offense to some pregame comments made by Custis, who said the Hokies ``owed'' the Rams for Tech's early exit from last season's A-10 tournament.
``I think Ace gave us a little fuel for our fire, making the comments he made in the newspaper,'' Skinner said. ``That really got our guys pumped up. He did a much better job getting them motivated than I could.''
Skinner said his club played ``Virginia Tech basketball.''
``In my opinion, as far as execution offensively and defensively, Virginia Tech is one of the best teams in the league,'' Skinner said. ``We controlled the basketball, we executed, we rebounded and made it difficult for them to score. I think we played like they played in the past.''
The Hokies, who entertain La Salle on Monday at Cassell, could use the same in the future.
``This is kind of a letdown, a bad time for us,'' Matthews said. ``We were playing so well, then comes something like this. We'll have to find a way to bounce back.''
ALAN KIM STAFF Rhode Island's Michael Anderson (54) blocks a shot by Tech's David Jackson. The Rams suppressed and submerged the Hokies 73-52, matching Tech's worst home loss in 36 years.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 linesby CNB