ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 1996 TAG: 9601230087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: OLEAN, N. Y.
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
There was no misadventure at St. Bonaventure for Virginia Tech.
Playing in the hostile environment of this cold, snowy western New York outpost, eighth-ranked Tech ran its winning streak to nine with games a hard-earned 65-58 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over St.Bonaventure on Monday night.
Ignoring chants of ``overrated'' by Bonnies students, Tech improved its record to 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the A-10. St. Bonaventure (5-10, 1-5) lost its fourth in a row and seventh in its past eight.
Damon Watlington paced Tech with 22 points, and Ace Custis had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
``I'm glad to get out of here,'' said Bill Foster, the Hokies' coach. ``That's a hungry bunch and this is one of the toughest places to play you'll ever find.''
After redshirt freshman Andre Ray ripped down a Reilly Center backboard on a jam during the Hokies' afternoon shoot-around, Tech came out with a torch to the rims. The Hokies hit six of their first nine shots, including three 3-pointers by Watlington, to bolt to a 16-4 lead in the first five minutes.
But the Bonnies countered with their own run, going on a 14-1 spurt in the next six minutes to go up 18-17 on Kenny McFarland's 3-pointer with 8:51 left.
Tech scored on only one of its nine possessions during the St.Bonaventure spurt, missing six consecutive shots and committing two of its three first-half turnovers.
After Jim Jackson's three-point play put Tech up 20-18, the Hokies nursed the lead until halftime.
Watlington's jam just before the buzzer, following an ill-advised 3-point fling by 7-foot Bonnies center Marc Schoone with eight seconds to play, enabled Tech to get the locker room with a 31-26 lead.
St.Bonaventure stayed close by hammering the Hokies on the backboard 18-12. The Bonnies had four baskets on second-chance opportunities and whipped Tech on the offensive boards 7-2.
The Hokies, content to fire away from the perimeter against StBonaventure's packed zone defense, had only four players on the scoreboard in the half. Watlington had 12 points, Custis eight, Shawn Smith seven and Jackson four. Starters Travis Jackson and Shawn Good didn't muster a shot in 17 minutes.
In the second half, Tech finally decided to dribble-penetrate and get the ball to cutters slicing inside the Bonnies' zone.
A jam by Travis Jackson, an eight-foot runner by Watlington off penetration and a 3-pointer by Good fueled an 8-0 run that put Tech up 40-30 with 16:31 left.
From that point, the Hokies took it home. Not without some anxious moments, however.
Thanks to a pile of missed Tech free throws - the Hokies hit only eight of their last 17 from the line - and a steal by the Bonnies' Rashaan Palmer cut it to 60-55 with 1:09 left.
But Troy Manns made one of two at the line and Watlington hit one of two after a Custis steal to make it a seven-point game with 41.4 seconds showing, putting this one in the books.
Up 54-44 with 6:09 left, the Hokies went against Foster's defensive book and eschewed their man-to-man for a zone.
Tech might have been better served going zone earlier, considering the Bonnies entered the game shooting 35.5 percent for the season and 27.8 percent in their past three games - all home losses. The Bonnies certainly weren't going to get back from 3-point land, where they had shot 13-for-97 in their past nine games.
Monday's contest opened a busy stretch in which Tech plays five times in a 10-day span. The Hokies travel to George Washington on Thursday before returning to Cassell Coliseum to face Fordham (Saturday), St.Joseph's (Jan.29) and UNC Greensboro (Jan.31).
Thursday's date at GW figures to be the toughest hurdle of that stretch. After squandering a 15-point second-half lead, Tech rallied to beat the Colonials 79-71 at the Roanoke Civic Center eight days ago.
``It's unusual to play back-to-back that quick,'' Foster said, ``but the good thing about it is we shouldn't have any trouble remembering how good they are.'' see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Virginia Tech center Travis Jackson (33) shoots inby CNBfront of St.Bonaventure forward Robert Blackwell (right) and point
guard Shandue McNeill during the first half of their Atlantic 10
Conference game Monday night in Olean, N.Y. color KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL