ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702180034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
THE HOKIES CONTINUE a downward spiral by losing to Atlantic 10 lightweight Dayton.
The Virginia Tech men's basketball team isn't buried yet. It just has one foot in the grave, that's all.
Continuing to write its own postseason obituary, Tech dug its hole a little deeper Saturday in front of 10,863 witnesses, losing 59-54 to Atlantic 10 Conference lightweight Dayton at UD Arena.
The loss, Tech's second in six days to a team it was expected to beat, left the Hokies 13-11 overall and 6-6 in the conference. The Hokies now must win three, possibly four, of their final five regular-season games to have any shot at landing a third consecutive postseason berth.
Tech's task is daunting. The Hokies will be underdogs in four of the five games, starting with Temple on Tuesday night in Blacksburg.
Saturday's loss to Dayton (10-12, 3-9) was another dose of poison in a week that started with a damaging 59-56 setback at La Salle, another A-10 also-ran.
``This week has been a killer for us,'' said Bill Foster, Tech's coach. ``You win these two, you're in [the NIT], you can just chalk it up.
``Now we've got to do it the hard way. But nothing has been easy since we've been here. I told our guys, `When you've got your backs to the wall, most of the time you've responded pretty well and you've come back and done something. Before they threw that last shovelful of dirt on you, we've got up out of the grave and did something.'''
But rising from the grave may have been easier for Lazarus. After all, he didn't have to play against Temple's matchup zone, play at George Washington (Thursday), meet Virginia in Richmond (Feb.25) and face nationally ranked Xavier (March 2).
``We've got two this week that look like mission impossible,'' Foster said. ``But maybe things will turn around for us.''
The Hokies can't blame anybody except themselves for their dire predicament. A technical foul on Troy Manns with 17 seconds left doomed Tech at La Salle. On Saturday, an intentional foul called on Ace Custis with 74 seconds left sealed the Hokies' fate.
``We've had two calls late in the game that killed us with a two-point ballgame,'' Foster said. ``You give up an intentional foul or a technical when the ball's out of bounds and they make 'em both [free throws] and get the ball back, it's like sticking a dagger in you.''
Tech still had a chance Saturday until Custis, with his team trailing 53-51, was called for intentionally fouling Ryan Perryman as the Dayton forward attempted to score underneath the basket.
Perryman hit both free throws. Retaining possession, Dayton made it a six-point game 13 seconds later when Manns fouled and Darnell Hoskins made two free throws, capping a personal 13-for-13 day at the line.
Custis, who already had suffered enough on this day by scoring a season-low six points, maintained he was trying to do a good deed.
``I was fighting for the ball and I tried to grab [Perryman] him because I didn't want him to fall,'' Custis said. ``And the ref calls a technical.
``It was big because we had the momentum and we were fighting back. That really hurt, them getting the two free throws and getting the ball back.''
Down 57-51, Tech saw its hopes dashed when Manns misfired on a 3-point shot and Perryman hit two more free throws with 44.1 seconds left. Brendan Dunlop's 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds remaining was too little, too late.
Foster, who was reprimanded by the A-10 on Thursday for calling the referees at La Salle ``the three blind mice,'' wasn't about to push the envelope Saturday.
``I couldn't see the play,'' Foster said. ``I hope it's on the film. I'm sure they didn't invent it. I'm sure that was the proper call because I saw no big complaints come out of our guys.''
If Foster had any complaints they were the usual ones. The Hokies didn't shoot well enough (20-for-57, 35.1 percent) or defend well enough in the second half to beat coach Oliver Purnell's club, which had lost five consecutive games.
Hoskins, who averages 13 points a game, beat the Hokies' guards for 25 points, 17 of which came in the decisive second half.
Hoskins repeatedly dribbled past Tech freshman Dunlop, then Manns, into the paint, where he either scored or was fouled.
``Hoskins was unbelievable,'' Foster said. ``He made some tough shots with people on him and he didn't miss at the line. If he plays a normal game, we play well enough to sneak out of here with a `W.'''
Hoskins said he loved seeing Tech's man-to-man defense, a rarity in the zone-dominated A-10.
``My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when they came out man,'' he said. ``I feel like I can take my man anytime.''
Manns paced Tech with 12 points, and David Jackson had 10 off the bench. Jim Jackson scored nine points, but nobody else had more than six for the Hokies.
``We've got to get over this soon,'' David Jackson said. ``We're just not playing well and we're going to have to turn things around in a hurry.''
Or die early for the first time in three seasons.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB