Collegiate Times

One would think that Virginia Tech has tallied up its quota of close losses.

This season's kings of cardiac contests had yet another confrontation of the same sort with ACC power Duke at Cassell Coliseum.

When Greg Paulus was left all alone for an uncontested layup with 33 seconds left to put the Blue Devils up 68-63, the Hokies and their fans had fallen into that agonizing and all-to-familiar feeling of "close, but no cigar."

Not to blow smoke, but Tech's NCAA Tournament chances are still much better than they were a week ago.

Prior to their encounter with Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum, the Hokies' Big Dance hopes were waning. But A.D. Vassallo and Malcolm Delaney helped breathe new life with an 80-77 victory.

Staring them in the face next was a pair of formidable Tobacco Road foes. Their game against the No. 7 Blue Devils was opportunity No. 1 to state their case for inclusion in the field of 65.

"We had it," said the senior Vassallo. "We did what we had to do, we just couldn't finish."

Tech didn't degrade their chances, but, boy, could they have helped them with a victory on Saturday afternoon.

The easy scapegoats can be the referees for a couple of questionable calls. Both took place in the late going.

Official Gary Maxwell whistled Delaney for a moving screen with 1:50 to go. Then, in the final minute, they missed an apparent travel by Jon Scheyer, who looked like he was performing a bad rendition of the watusi.

Nevertheless, the simple fact of the matter is that this game was lost in the first half of play. More specifically, it was lost in the first ten minutes of play.

Duke jumped out to a 20-5 lead. They held their largest advantage - a 16 point spread - with just under six minutes to go in the opening half. In addition, Tech had more turnovers (12) than field goals (nine) by the time the teams headed to the locker room.

Poor defense and a poor shooting effort left the Hokies playing catch up. And their ability to limit Gerald Henderson along with Vassallo's shooting efforts helped Tech reel in the Blue Devils at the 5:50 mark in the second half.

Henderson finished with 21 points, but Tech limited him to 0-for-7 shooting and two points following intermission.

Meanwhile, down 54-43, the Hokies went on a 15-4 run to tie the score at 58 apiece. Vassallo, in that spurt, was blazing. If this were in the NBA Jam video game, the ball would have been on fire when it was in his hands. He accounted for all of the points in that run, including three trifectas.

But then, Tech was held scoreless for six straight empty possessions and the next 4:47. When it was over, with over a minute to go, the Blue Devils were up by six.

"We tied the game up, we fought back," said Delaney, who had eight assists in, yet saw his string of scoring in double figures end at 32 straight games. "Unfortunately, everything didn't go our way."

Even though the Hokie defense improved greatly in the second half, holding Duke to a 31 percent clip from the field, they lapsed in a crucial situation. Failing to find Paulus, inbounder Kyle Singler - a high school quarterback - completed a pass to his wide open receiver.

The cause of that breakdown?

"Miscommunication," Delaney said. "I don't think anybody saw him."

One thing that isn't clear is Tech's status on the bubble. The "will they, won't they" debate will swirl for the next two weeks. However, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, albeit with an subjective viewpoint, is quite convinced.

"They're playing really hard and well," he said. "They deserve to be in the tournament."

All the heartbreaking defeats have been well documented both locally and nationally. And while "good" losses are far better than getting blown out, like the Hokies did on Jan. 4 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, they won't be a benefit if they continue to happen up until the end of this season - especially if fellow bubble teams start winning.

The quality road wins - over Wake Forest, Miami and Clemson - are what's keeping them in contention. Greenberg feels that his team is set to get more of those big wins.

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