Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412090010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
So the Virginia Tech basketball coach got up from his courtside seat and walked briskly through the tunnel leading to the Hokies' locker room.
``I've had a little touch of the diarrhea the past couple days,'' Foster said later. ``Hey, I held it as long as I could. Finally, I had to get up and go somewhere. I've left games for other reasons. We've won 'em all.''
This one was no different. In a game of runs - just ask Foster - the Hokies put a second-half blitzkrieg on VMI and buried the Keydets 110-75 before a season-high crowd of 5,466.
After struggling a bit in the first half, the Hokies (5-1) got down to business in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Keydets 64-39 to win going away.
It marked the first time Tech has cracked the century mark at home since Feb.4, 1989, when it beat Southern Mississippi 107-92.
Junior guard Damon Watlington hit five 3-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points to pace Tech. Watlington's previous career high was 23, set 48 hours earlier in Tech's 82-55 rout of Xavier.
Sophomore forward Ace Custis had 20 points and 10 rebounds - his fifth double-double in six games - for Tech. Four other Hokies - Shawn Smith (13 points), David Jackson (11), Myron Guillory (11) and Shawn Good (10) - also scored in double figures.
Despite the final margin, it wasn't as easy as Tech might have expected. The Hokies came out flat, as Foster feared, after their big victory over Xavier.
With 7 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half, Tech found itself trailing 25-24 when VMI guard Bobby Prince stole the ball and canned a running 3-pointer.
``VMI came out ready and caught us with our heads down, so give 'em credit,'' Custis said. ``It definitely gave us a wakeup call.''
Tech finished the half with a 22-11 run, including Watlington's 3-pointer with two seconds left, to take a 46-36 lead into the dressing room.
``The 3-pointer near the end hurt,'' said Bart Bellairs, VMI's coach. ``We're getting ready to go in only down seven.''
Foster said he wasn't surprised at his club's lethargic first-half effort.
``I knew they [the Keydets] would come out ready to play,'' Foster said. ``I didn't feel we'd come out with the emotional intensity we had Monday. We looked a half-step slow. VMI made us look a half-step slow.''
The second half was an entirely different story, however. The Hokies put the pesky Keydets out of their misery, doubling their lead in the first 2:54 with a 13-3 run.
Pounding the ball inside with much more authority than it did in the first half, Tech stretched the lead to as many as 38 points (89-51) with 8:12 left before coasting to the final margin.
``I thought about playing six or seven guys at the same time, but I never could stick 'em all in the game,'' said Bellairs, in his first season at VMI.
``We're young and we've just got to keep believing. Hey, it's tough coming in this place. There are going to be a lot of teams get their butts kicked in here before it's over.''
Foster said the second half was much easier to stomach, at least before and after his little emergency trip.
``We got into the game more defensively and that opened things up for us at the other end,'' he said. ``That basket got pretty large after that.''
Tech shot better than 50 percent for the second consecutive game, hitting 44 of 83 field-goal attempts (53 percent). VMI hit 27 of 72 (37.5 percent), including eight of 32 3-pointers.
TECH TIDBITS: Foster was elated with the play of walk-on guard Kelly Mann, who scored his first six points of the season and helped fuel Tech's late first-half run with a pair of hustling hoops. ``He'll give you the same thing those Jackson guys [David and Jim] give you,'' Foster said. ``He plays hard. When he goes into the game, the level of energy seems to pick up.'' ... Foster said he may get a report on the eligibility of freshman guard Shawn Browne today. Browne has been ruled ineligible to participate by the NCAA to this point because of a hangup with the transcript of his high school grades. ... The Hokies entertain another up-tempo outfit, Texas Christian, at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Horned Frogs were 2-0 going into their game with Louisiana Tech on Wednesday, averaging 120 points under first-year coach Billy Tubbs.
by CNB