Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MILWAUKEE LENGTH: Medium
In a game that could spell the difference between NCAA and NIT come March, the Hokies blew a big lead, fell behind late, came back and then dodged three possible game-tying shots in the last 20 seconds to escape with a 57-54 victory over Marquette.
``I'm still trying to figure out how we won this game,'' said Bill Foster, Tech's coach. ``Marquette outshot us from the floor, outshot us from the free-throw line and outrebounded us, but somehow we still won. We'll take it.''
The victory was Tech's fourth at a tough road venue this season, following wins at West Virginia, Tennessee and Southern Miss.
``When they get there in March and start putting those teams on the board those wins against teams like those on the road who have a great difficulty of schedule rating it's got to help you,'' Foster said. "Marquette is going to have a winning season. Tennessee probably is and so is West Virginia. The better they do the more it helps us.''
Tech needed a lot of help to get out of the Bradley Center with its 13th win in 16 games. After dominating the first half, taking a 36-21 lead, the Hokies watched the Golden Eagles, spurred on by a noisy crowd of 12,576, come flying back in the final 20 minutes.
Thanks to a 32-13 rebounding advantage in the second half, the bigger Golden Eagles finally caught and passed the cold-shooting Hokies with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left, taking a 54-52 lead on Roney Eford's three-point play.
Marquette (9-5), however, did not score again.
After Shawn Good's two free throws with 1:50 left tied the score at 54, Tech took the lead for good when Ace Custis scored on an offensive stickback with 1:02 remaining.
After Marquette's Tony Miller missed the front end of a one-and-one, Good made it 57-54 with 36.6 seconds left by making one of two free-throw attempts.
From that point, a lot happened, but the scoreboard did not change.
First, Marquette's Aaron Hutchins missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22.3 left.
After Custis blew the front end of a one-and-one with 19.6 left, Eford misfired on a 3-pointer.
Marquette immediately fouled Custis, who had a chance to seal the victory with 11.4 seconds left. But Custis missed the front end, giving the home team one more chance.
Hutchins jacked up an errant 3-pointer with approximately 8 seconds left. When the ball went out of bounds off Tech, Marquette had yet another shot to tie. But Anthony Pieper's off-balance leaner under Jackson from the left corner clanged off the rim.
``This is a big win,'' said Custis, who had 15 points and eight rebounds. ``I thought I might be the goat when I missed those free throws at the end.''
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB