Blacksburg, VA -- Freshman walk-on guard Mykhael Lattimore's tip-in as time expired gave Virginia Tech's young and scrappy men's basketball team their second straight win to open the season, 61-59 over Western Carolina.
Lattimore was subbing for leading scorer Bryant Matthews, who had fouled out with 7 seconds to go. With the Hokies up 59-57, Western Carolina's Terrance Woodyard stole the ball, and Matthews fouled WCU's star player, Kevin Martin. Martin, who led all scorers with 24 points and was 11-of-11 from the free throw line, calmly sank both free throws to tie it up with 7 seconds to go.
The Hokies inbounded the ball, and freshman guard Jamon Gordon (7 points on 3-of-12 shooting) took it the length of the floor. His driving shot missed, and Lattimore, the unlikely hero, corralled it and banked it in with no time on the clock for the win.
The game got off to an ugly start for Tech, as the Hokies scored just five points in the first 12 minutes. Fortunately, Western Carolina didn't fare much better, and Tech was only down 13-5. The Hokies finally found the groove, going on a 9-0 run to take a 14-13 lead, but at the half, it was WCU 27, VT 22.
VT slowly worked back into the lead, taking a 44-39 lead on Matthews' 3-pointer with ten minutes to go. The Hokies held that lead, going up 57-52 on a free throw by Allen Calloway with 3:36 to go, but five straight points by the Catamounts tied it at 57 with 2:07 remaining. A Zabian Dowdell jumper put the Hokies back up by two with 1:04 remaining, and when Martin missed a jumper badly, Tech had possession with 43 seconds to go.
The Hokies milked the clock down to 8 seconds, and that's when WCU stole the ball and Matthews fouled Martin. Martin hit both, tying it at 59 and setting the stage for Lattimore's heroics.
Matthews struggled from the field, hitting just 5-of-16 shots, but he was money from the foul line, going 11-of-13. He led Tech with 22 points and 8 rebounds, and freshman guard Dowdell chipped in 14 points and three assists.
As a team, the Hokies outrebounded Western Carolina (who was missing their starting center) 39-23 and outscored them on second chance points 20-1. The rebounding edge, which included a 19-4 edge in offensive rebounds, enabled the Hokies to overcome a tepid shooting performance (18-of-52, for 34.6%).
Tech is now 2-0 on the year, with Western Carolina falling to 0-2. The Hokies play Virginia Friday night in Charlottesville at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net South and Comcast Sports Net.
In other notes, Virginia Tech announced that guard Carlos Dixon will redshirt, due to a foot injury suffered last summer, and Jamon Gordon was named Big East Rookie of the Week for his performance against New Hampshire.
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Virginia Tech 61, Western Carolina 59
11/25/03, Blacksburg, Va.
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Western Carolina 0-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 OSIPOVICH, Alex..... f 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 5 2 0 3 0 1 14
04 BERGHOEFER, David... c 5-7 0-0 1-4 1 0 1 2 11 0 1 0 0 29
03 MUIRHEAD, Corey..... g 5-6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 10 0 3 0 0 18
05 JOHNSON, James...... g 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 4 3 0 1 23
32 MARTIN, Kevin....... g 5-12 3-6 11-11 0 6 6 2 24 1 4 0 2 36
00 OUTING, Jared....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 2 3 0 3 17
14 ATSUR, Emre......... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 6
22 NLANDU, Lunzaya..... 1-2 0-0 2-4 1 0 1 5 4 0 1 0 0 16
33 WOODYARD, Terrence.. 2-6 1-4 1-5 1 6 7 2 6 1 0 1 1 24
40 GREATHOUSE, Kyle.... 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 17
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 19-41 4-13 17-26 4 19 23 25 59 11 19 1 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23 43.5% 2nd Half: 9-18 50.0% Game: 46.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 30.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 12-15 80.0% Game: 65.4% 4,1
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Virginia Tech 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 MATTHEWS, Bryant.... f 5-16 1-5 11-13 5 3 8 5 22 1 3 1 2 36
25 McCANDIES, Philip... f 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 6 0 5 0 0 32
01 DOWDELL, Zabian..... g 4-10 2-4 4-6 1 4 5 1 14 3 3 0 2 38
02 GORDON, Jamon....... g 3-12 0-4 1-2 3 3 6 4 7 1 3 0 2 20
24 SAILES, Markus...... g 1-6 1-3 2-4 0 3 3 3 5 1 3 0 3 38
15 LATTIMORE, Mykhael.. 2-2 0-0 0-0 4 0 4 1 4 1 2 0 1 10
21 CALLOWAY, Allen..... 0-1 0-0 3-6 2 1 3 2 3 0 1 2 0 22
42 TUCKER, Chris....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 2 2 4 1
Totals.............. 18-52 4-16 21-31 19 20 39 19 61 7 21 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-26 26.9% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 34.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-9 11.1% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-14 50.0% 2nd Half: 14-17 82.4% Game: 67.7% 5,3
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Officials: Tom Lopes, Fran Connolly, Reggie Greenwood
Technical fouls: Western Carolina-None. Virginia Tech-None.
Attendance: 4710
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Western Carolina.............. 27 32 - 59
Virginia Tech................. 22 39 - 61
2003-2004 Men's Basketball Schedule/Results