Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long
It's called destiny, man.
Refusing to lose a game in which it was outshot, outrebounded and arguably outplayed, Tech captured its second NIT title Wednesday night, nipping Marquette 65-64 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
Shawn Smith, the junior who missed last-second shots in Tech losses to South Florida and Virginia, came through this time, hitting two free throws with .7 of a second left.
Marquette (21-12), which led most of the way, had taken its final lead at 64-63 lead on Anthony Pieper's driving layuup with 18.3 second left.
On its final possession, Tech (25-10) worked the ball down low to Smith, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound forward who had carried the Hokies on his shoulders all night long.
Smith backed in on defender Faisal Abraham in the lane, spun and went up from about six feet from the basket. The ball traveled about five feet, but in a late whistle by official Larry Lembo, Abraham was called for the foul.
``Coach Foster has always told us when the clock is running down, you take it to the hole because you're bound to get fouled,'' said Smith, who led Tech with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
``He [Abraham] got me on the elbow. It was a late call, for sure. I felt like I got fouled and so did the ref. I'm not going to give it back.''
Marquette coach Mike Deane, to his credit, refused to criticize Lembo.
``I thought we fouled them,'' Deane said. ``It was a gutsy call to make but the advantage-disadvantage situation, the disadvantage would have been too great for them if a call wasn't made.''
Still, there was big business to be taken care of at the free-throw line. Smith, just a 66-percent free-throw shooter, calmly made the first one to tie it.
Then, Marquette called a timeout to make him think about the second one.
``Nobody said a word to Smitty in the huddle,'' said Shawn Good, who made the all-tournament team with Smith.
``After the first one went in, I knew that second one was good.''
Smith, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, said all he could think about was his grandmother, who passed away last week.
``I told myself that she's watching me up in heaven and I'm going to make both these free throws for her,'' said Smith, his eyes welling with tears.
``I knew everything was going to fall on my shoulders. I figured if I missed them I'd take the blame and if I I hit 'em, I'd be a hero.''
After the timeout, Smith toed the line again. His second free throw found nothing but net.
Marquette inbounded deep, but before it could hoist a shot the buzzer sounded. Many of the Tech fans in the crowd of 8,549 rushed the court and hugged every Hokie they could find.
``Unbelievable,'' said Bill Foster, Tech coach. ``This was one of the ugliest games I've ever seen. But it sure had a nice ending, didn't it?
``It typlifies our season. We were able to hang tight, keep it close and do it at the end. This team seems to find a way to win. It has been doing that all year and we did it again tonight.
``Everybody struggled except for Shawn Smith and Myron Guillory [freshman reserve guard]. What a game that kid played.''
Guillory had five points in a season-high 19 minutes, including a huge 3-pointer with 2:59 left in regulation that help Tech cut the Marquette lead to 55-54.
Tech, which had trailed by as much as 10 early in the second half, got some help from Marquette to get to overtime.
After Good's two free throws had given Tech a 57-56 lead with 49.9 left, Marquette's Aaron Hutchins made only one of two free-throw attempts with 33.4 left to leave it tied.
Tech set up for a final shot in regulation, but Guillory's drive in the lane was off. The Golden Eagles rushed it down court, but Pieper's 35-footer fell short.
In overtime, Tech led 63-59 after a Good baseline drive with 1:53 showing. But Marquette got a bucket by Hutchins and a free throw from Tony Miller to make it 63-62.
Then Smith threw the ball away, setting up Pieper's drive that put Marquette up 64-63.
Then Smith made up for his miscue in the biggest kind of way.
``Thank God I made 'em,'' Smith said, smiling wide.
Tech, which shot a season-low 34.5 percent in a 57-54 win over Marquette in Milwaukee in January, shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55). Marquette, led by Amal McCaskill's 15 rebounds, beat the Hokies on the boards, 45-38.
``But all that counts,'' said Good, ``is those number up on that scoreboard.''
``What a great ending for this season,'' Foster said. ``This bunch played hard all seaosn long and they deserved for something like this to happen to them.''
Penn State 66, Canisius 62: Dan Earl scored 17 points, including two free throws with 6.4 seconds left, as Penn State (21-11) survived a late rally by Canisius (21-14) for a victory in the NIT consolation game.
John Amaechi made two free throws with 46 seconds left to give Penn State a 64-62 lead. Canisius missed three shots on one possession in the closing seconds and then fouled Earl, who made both free throws to clinch the victory.
NIT BITS: The Hokies will arrive at Roanoke Regional Airport at approximately 1 p.m. today. There will a NIT championship celebration party at 2:30 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum. ... Ace Custis, battling sickness all week, had a season-low two field goals and just nine points. ``I'd liked to have played better individually,'' Custis said. ``But, hey, we got done what we wanted to here. We won the championship.'' ... Foster elected to go with Guillory and a small three-guard offense most of the second half. ``David Jackson wasn't getting anything done. For some reason, a lot of guys were sluggish.''
If you'd like to see more photos, facts and stats on Virginia Tech's NIT appearance, check out our Internet site on the World Wide Web. The URL is http://www.bev.net/community/rketimes/NIT.html.|
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB