Hokies make up for slow start
Mike Shoryer / SPPSA combination of fatigue from the ACC Tournament and emotional exhaustion from being left out of the NCAA Tournament left the Hokies starting out slow last night.
Tech scored 11 points in the first six minutes of play against the Morgan State Bears last night, and only notched 14 points in the first eight minutes.
A.D. Vassallo must have been the only one who took his aspirin and chugged Gatorade before coming back to Blacksburg, because the junior forward ended the first half with 19 points -- almost half of the Hokies' 40 first half points. Freshman Malcolm Delaney finished the half with nine points.
The rest of the team was sluggish early, being beaten down low and missing both rebounds and layups. The team finished the half only 9-18 from inside the arc.
Senior forward Deron Washington, who is second in scoring on the team for the year, averaging 12.8 points per game, ended the first half with zero points.
To the Hokies' credit, they did have an eventful weekend, as they were both one unbelievable shot away from playing in the ACC title game and snubbed from the Big Dance in two days.
The Tylenol must have finally kicked in at the 7:00 mark, as the Hokies finally got a little fire in their game with back-to-back three pointers. They proceeded to open it up with a nine-point lead and never looked back.
Vasallo continued to fill up the basket in the second half like the Easter Bunny (who made an appearance in Cassell Coliseum last night), finishing the game with 27 points -- in 25 minutes.
The team shot almost 82.6 percent in the second, a school record, with Washington scoring all 11 of his points, and freshman J.T. Thompson contributing nine. At one point, Washington scored eight points in 90 seconds.
The Hokies certainly have had experience being down big in the beginning of games this season, and if they want to make it through the NIT they need to start out every game hot.
Now is certainly not the time to start to tire, especially with the possibility of playing five games in 15 days-- in addition to a trip to New York City.
But if Tech continues to play as it did in the last 27 minutes of the game last night, it might not be stopped.
With the drama of Selection Sunday over, the Hokies can look forward to a "fresh start," as Vasallo put it yesterday.
The huge win last night went a long way toward healing the wounds of a spectacular Tyler Hansborough shot, and curing an emotional hangover from last weekend.
The NCAA Tournament is out of their heads now, and they are looking forward to playing strong in the NIT, Delaney said.
The crowd can also have a huge part in the Hokies starting out with their "A game" if they continue to show up as they did last night.
"This has been great … I mean the community has been behind us," said head coach Seth Greenberg. "This school just has great passion and great pride … all of the students were just unbelievable."
Greenberg – who nabbed his 300th career win last night -- said after the game that Tech would again be providing 3,000 tickets to students for Monday's game against UAB.
If Tech plays the rest of the Tournament like as it did in the second half, it looks as though Greenberg could be heading home to the Big Apple.
They just better not start out slow.
