ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602130018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CINCINNATI
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
It is a historical place. It can also be a hysterical place.
It's Cincinnati Gardens. In its 47 years, Lawrence Welk played there, as did Elvis. The Beatles played there, as did Oscar Robertson.
The top acts in Atlantic 10 basketball haven't exactly enjoyed the Gardens' introduction 1995-96 to the league. On Saturday, for instance, Virginia Tech did a great imitation of Massachusetts.
Six days after the top-ranked Minutemen barely stayed unbeaten by nudging Xavier in overtime, the Hokies hung on for a 78-73 victory over the Musketeers before a sellout crowd of 10,118.
The Hokies are the first team in school history to win 18 of their first 20 games. They also are getting asked repeatedly why they can't seem to put away opponents.
``We ask ourselves the same question all of the time,'' said Tech scoring and rebounding leader Ace Custis. ``I don't think we play complacent, but we let people hang around.''
Maybe so, but while the 11th-ranked Hokies might have difficulty burying opponents, they don't seem to let their foes' friends into the game.
Cincinnati Gardens can be a loud place. Just ask UMass, which had to rally late to send last week's game to OT. In their triumph Saturday, the Hokies never let the Musketeers lead after 2-0.
``That team has a sense of mission,'' Xavier coach Skip Prosser said after his very young club - sort of like these Hokies were two years ago - got another lesson that close doesn't count.
``It's about having talent, and experience. A team like Virginia Tech might not always be sure of how it's going to win, but it expects it to happen. That's important.''
It's why the Hokies beat the Musketeers. It's why UMass' visit to Cassell Coliseum on Saturday is so anticipated. The Minutemen and Hokies are so similar in one sense.
One reason they both win is that they know how to do it.
Tech coach Bill Foster agrees that his club doesn't shovel as much dirt on opponents as they'd like, but he prefers to look at these close encounters in a more positive fashion.
``I think that is going to help us down the stretch,'' Foster said. ``For a long time we didn't have close games. Having this kind of game is good for us, because it put in the situation of having to use different lineups and make free throws with pressure on you.''
Tech's sixth straight victory was crucial for other reasons, too. Now, with UMass visiting and a trip to Temple in the next two weeks, those games aren't as critical in Tech's bid for a good NCAA seed.
The Hokies are 4-1 on the road in the A-10, and victories the past two Saturdays at Rhode Island and Xavier are the kind of victories that good teams find a way to get.
Foster insists that the Atlantic 10 ``is better than it gets credit for,'' and whether that's so or not, there is one thing undeniable that Tech has learned on a new road this season.
``The places to play in the Atlantic 10 are tougher than in the Metro,'' Foster said. ``You have to go to Rhode Island to really see how small it is and how those people are on top of you.
``Everywhere, it's a sellout, whether [the capacity] is 3,900 or 10,000, they're all in there. In the Metro, you didn't have sellouts at Southern Miss, or South Florida, or at VCU, or at [UNC] Charlotte.''
If Foster does have a concern about his club, it's that the Hokies don't lull themselves into playing not to lose. He harps on aggressiveness during every timeout.
It's a different experience, just like the conference provides. Tech, the defending NIT champ, is now the hunted.
``I think we're getting everybody's best shot,'' Foster said. ``They're really coming after us. I don't mean this the way it sounds, but if they lose, it's kind of like they're supposed to, and if they don't, that's great.
``We're in the other role. We have to guard against playing to keep from losing. . . .Don't get conservative. I don't want to be getting crazy, but I don't want them thinking about what they have to do to win in a sense that they're trying to play to keep from losing.''
To be sure, the Hokies did just that at times on Saturday. It happens at places like the Cincinnati Gardens. It can happen to the best of teams.
And if the Hokies were thinking about UMass one Saturday too soon, maybe it was because they knew that the Minutemen were in the same spot six days earlier.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB