Virginia Tech 80, VMI 56
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 12/10/03

Blacksburg, VA -- The Hokies ended the first half with a 25-4 run, breaking open a tie game into a rout, and Virginia Tech cruised to victory over VMI, 80-56. The Hokies were led once again by Bryant Matthews, who had 26 points and 8 rebounds, and Zabian Dowdell had his second 18-point game in a row, adding five assists.

With the score tied 19-all, the Hokies went on a huge run, scoring 23 points in a row and running out to a big 44-23 half time lead. The key to the run was Tech switching defensively to a 1-3-1 zone, putting them in position to interrupt the passing lanes of VMI's "flex" offense, make steals, and get out on the fast break. The Hokies forced 24 VMI turnovers for the game, scoring 40 points off of those turnovers.

At one point in the second half, the Hokies had opened up a 27-point lead, doubling up VMI 54-27 and capping a dominating 35-8 VT run.

Virginia Tech was very generous with the basketball, assisting on 24 of their 33 field goals. The guard trio of Jamon Gordon (8 assists, 1 turnover), Markus Sailes (7 assists, 1 turnover) and Dowdell (5 assists, 1 turnover) combined for a remarkable 20 assists against just 3 turnovers. As a team, the Hokies had 13 turnovers and 15 steals (4 by Gordon).

Virginia Tech improves to 4-3 on the season, and VMI drops to 1-5. The Hokies' next game is Saturday, December 13th, against Radford at home, at 7 p.m.

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Virginia Tech 80, VMI 56
12/10/03, Blacksburg, VA

Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Virginia Tech.................   44   36   80
VMI...........................   23   33   56

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VMI (56)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
M Murrer            24   3-4   0-0   0-2   3   2    7
S Mielnik           15   1-2   2-2   2-2   0   2    4
T Allmond           28   2-7   0-0   3-4   0   3    4
F Robinson          20  3-10   0-0   2-6   0   1    7
R Little            29   2-6   0-0   1-3   4   0    4
T Mankevicius       12   2-3   0-0   1-2   0   0    4
M Coward            11   0-6   0-0   1-2   2   0    0
P Beverly           18   3-7   0-0   4-6   1   1    6
L Joseph            22  7-11   0-0   0-1   1   1   18
J Castleberry       14   0-3   0-0   0-3   2   1    0
C Ezekwe             7   0-2   2-2   2-3   0   1    2
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 23-61  4-4  16-34  13  12   56
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.377, FT-1.000. 3-Point 
Goals: 6-23, .261 (M Murrer 1-2, F Robinson 
1-6, R Little 0-2, M Coward 0-3, L Joseph 
4-7, J Castleberry 0-3). Team Rebounds: 3. 
Blocked Shots: 3 (T Allmond, T Mankevicius, C
Ezekwe). Turnovers: 24 (R Little 6, F 
Robinson 5, M Coward 4, T Mankevicius 3, S 
Mielnik 2, M Murrer 2, L Joseph, C Ezekwe). 
Steals: 5 (M Murrer 2, R Little, M Coward, L 
Joseph).

VIRGINIA TECH (80)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
B Matthews          35 11-16   4-5   5-8   1   3   26
P McCandies         25  5-10   3-5   2-5   0   1   13
Z Dowdell           35  7-12   0-0   1-5   5   3   18
J Gordon            29   5-9   0-0   1-2   8   0   11
M Sailes            29   1-6   0-0   0-1   7   1    2
F Davis             12   2-3   0-0   0-4   2   0    4
B Ritchie            5   0-1   2-2   0-2   1   0    2
M Lattimore          6   1-3   0-0   2-2   0   0    2
A Calloway          18   1-4   0-0   2-2   0   0    2
C Tucker             6   0-2   0-1   0-1   0   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 33-66  9-13 13-32  24   8   80
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.692. 3-Point Goals:
5-13, .385 (Z Dowdell 4-6, J Gordon 1-3, M 
Sailes 0-2, B Ritchie 0-1, C Tucker 0-1). 
Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 4 (B 
Matthews, A Calloway, P McCandies, J Gordon).
Turnovers: 13 (B Matthews 4, A Calloway 2, F 
Davis, P McCandies, M Sailes, Z Dowdell, J 
Gordon, M Lattimore, B Ritchie). Steals: 15 
(B Matthews 4, J Gordon 4, M Sailes 3, P 
McCandies 2, Z Dowdell 2).

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