ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702210068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, D.C.
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
The Virginia Tech men's basketball team took it to a new level Thursday night.
This time the Hokies weren't satisfied just to be plain ol' ugly.
"We were double-ugly tonight,'' Bill Foster said.
And that's being polite.
Continuing their fast February fade, the bumbling, stumbling Hokies had more turnovers than points in the first half and got crushed 69-52 by George Washington in front of 5,454 fans at Smith Center.
The loss was Tech's fourth straight, its longest losing streak since a six-game slide in the latter part of the 1993-94 season. The Hokies are 13-13 overall and 6-8 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Just when Tech thought things couldn't get any worse, they did.
"I have no explanation for it,'' Foster said. "We've tried everything and everybody. We've tried more lineups than Carter has liver pills. We just can't shake out of it.''
Talk about capital punishment. After 15 1/2 minutes, Tech was 2-for-14 from the floor, had committed 14 turnovers and trailed 30-9.
Even with a 7-0 flurry to close the half, the Hokies still finished with one more turnover than points. In a startling statistic, Tech's 17 turnovers matched the number of shots it took in the first 20 minutes.
And we haven't even mentioned shooting percentages yet. Tech went 23.5 percent, making all of four baskets. That's one every five minutes for all you non-math majors.
"It can't get any worse,'' said Roanoker Troy Manns, Tech's only double-figures scorer with 13 points.
"Seventeen turnovers! You can't beat anybody with 17 turnovers in a half. I don't have any answers for it. You're right, this isn't supposed to be happening in February.''
Or, for that point, any other month.
After the first half, the two clubs played the second half simply to fulfill obligations. GW (13-10, 7-6) cruised in the second half, never letting Tech get any closer than 16. The Colonials led by as many as 27 (64-37) with 7:13 to play.
Diminutive guard Shawnta Rogers paced GW with a career-high 25 points. The 5-foot-4 Rogers burned Tech from outside, hitting five of eight 3-point attempts.
Seven-foot-one center Alexander Koul was 6-for-6 from the field and had 14 points. Yegor Mescheriakov, in addition to playing smothering defense on Tech star Ace Custis, added 12 points.
Tech, which added another dismal shooting effort (14-of-42, 33.3 percent) to its ever-growing resume, got only three points from Custis. The Hokies' main weapon drew his third personal foul only 10:27 into the game and was a non-factor in 20 minutes of playing time.
The three points marked Custis' low since he scored two twice in a game in his freshman season (1993-94). The 6-7 Custis has been shackled the past five games, scoring a cumulative 35 points.
"It's difficult because most teams are doubling Ace and he's our main option,'' Manns said. "When he's shut down we've got to go somewhere else. And right now we're not finding it.''
Custis, who had to listen to chants of "CBA, CBA'' every time he touched the ball, confessed times are tough for the Hokies.
"It's very frustrating right now,'' said Custis, who suffered a strained right shoulder when Mescheriakov belted him going for a rebound early in the game.
"We're struggling to play well. We're in a slump. We're playing ugly ball right now. Turnover after turnover. It's hard to watch.''
Foster will second that.
"When you break it all down in a nutshell,'' said Foster, "we came out flatter than a fritter.
"I didn't think GW played all that well the first half. We just out-uglied them.
"I've been around a long time. I've haven't ever seen anything quite like this.''
NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB