With 7:06 remaining and the score tied at 50, the Hokies found a way to make some plays down the stretch to propel them to the win. Three different Virginia Tech players nailed 3-pointers in the next 1 minute 55 seconds: Jamon Gordon, Deron Washington and Zabian Dowdell. After the Dowdell 3-pointer went down with 5:11 remaining, the Hokies were leading 59-52 after the 9-2 run.

That run was part of a much larger run put together by Tech to ice the game. With 11:59 remaining in the second half, the Hokies trailed 45-39. The game had gone back and forth, but it looked like Miami was about to make a charge to push them ahead for the win. However, it was Virginia Tech who made the charge, going on a 20-7 run that ended with the Zabian Dowdell 3-pointer noted above.

Just when it appeared that Miami had the opportunity to close out a victory, the Hokies reached out a stole it from them, literally and figuratively, in a display of intercepted passes that would make cornerback Eric Green of the Hokie football team proud.

Miami got back in the game with 2:42 remaining on a layup by Guillermo Diaz that made the score 63-60 Hokies. Tech responded when Carlos Dixon picked off a Miami pass and took it coast to coast for the breakaway layup with 1:53 remaining to put Tech up 65-60. Shortly thereafter Jamon Gordon got in on the act as well, intercepting a Hurricane pass and converting it into a layup on the other end to extend the lead to 69-62.

There were several keys to Virginia Tech’s victory, not the least of which was their field goal shooting. For the game the Hokies were 28-56, good for 50% from the field. Starters Zabian Dowdell, Jamon Gordon, Carlos Dixon and Deron Washington went a combined 25-42 from the field, which comes out to 59.5%. The other starter, Coleman Collins, had an unusually poor shooting game, going 1-9 from the field and only scoring 4 points, but the others were there to pick up the slack.

The Hokies also shot very well from 3-point range, going 9-22 (41%). Tech even managed to break even with Miami in the rebounding column at 32-32, an impressive mark considering Miami ranks 23rd in the nation in rebounding.

Despite the scoring of Dowdell and Dixon, the hero of the game was arguably freshman forward Deron Washington. Washington posted an outstanding line in the stat sheet. The freshman from New Orleans scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting, had 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. He also had 2 blocks and a steal in 37 minutes of action.

But Washington's most impressive statistic is not shown in the box score. Playing outstanding defense and giving up 40 pounds to the players he was guarding, Washington drew a total of 6 charges on Miami players during the course of the game. The Hurricanes had 15 turnovers for the game -- combining the 6 charges with Washington's one steal, he was accountable for 7 of the 15 Miami turnovers.

Virginia Tech returns to action this Saturday when they host #7 Wake Forest in Cassell Coliseum. Wake defeated #6 Duke Wednesday night to move to 18-3 overall, 6-2 in the ACC and tied for second one game ahead of the fourth-place Hokies. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. and will be televised by Raycom/Jefferson Pilot.