Collegiate Times

Comfortable conquest

Coming off of a close loss in Tallahassee to Atlantic Coast Conference rival No. 25 Florida State on Saturday, the Hokies (14-3, 1-2 ACC) quickly bounced back with a win over North Carolina Central (4-16) in their last non-conference game of the regular season Monday night. 

Tech came out strong early in front of its home crowd Monday night and held a substantial lead throughout the contest, which ended in a 72-30 victory.

The Hokies began the game similarly to how the Seminoles did on Saturday, by pushing the ball early.  Led by junior guard Dorenzo Hudson and freshman guard Erick Green, who finished the game with nine and 11 points respectively, there was never a doubt as to who would win the game.

Virginia Tech’s four freshmen, Green, Cadarian Raines, Manny Atkins, and Ben Boggs finished the game with 32 total points, essentially defeating North Carolina Central on their own.

“All of the freshmen were excited to be out there and to help get this win,” Atkins said.

“It’s good to get in the freshmen and the guys that don’t get in a lot,” added junior Malcolm Delaney.  “I think they played good.”

Tech opened the game with three long shots by Hudson and junior Terrell Bell, propelling it to an early lead.  The Eagles were only able to hit 4 of 27 shots from the floor in the first-half and had only eight points at the break.

The Hokies opened the second half with two impressive dunks by Bell and played their freshmen for a lot of minutes.

“I think it’s going to be really important for us to have gotten that extra playing time,” Green said.  “I think it’s prepared me a little bit, but the ACC and the next 13 games are going to be a completely different story.”

Despite some sloppy passing and poor shot selection around the lane in the first-half, the Hokies showed signs of a team ready for the tough ACC schedule that remains in front of them.

“We just have to stay tough and stay consistent,” continued Delaney.  “We were fine in the first-half, we just have to put the whole game together and get the total package together.”

The Hokies’ victory over NCCU pushed the Eagles back

to a road-game record of 0-12 on the season.

With freshmen like Atkins and Raines stepping in with eight points apiece on the evening, the Hokies’ young talent looked to have a promising future with their performance Monday.

The Hokies continue their long conference stretch on Saturday in Blacksburg against another group of Eagles — this time from Boston College.  Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.