St. John's 75, Virginia Tech 65
by Stefan Adams, TechSideline.com, 12/8/04

Queens, New York - The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team needed to rebound from a surprising loss against Virginia Military Institute last week. Ironically, rebound is exactly what Tech failed to do against St. John’s in their 75-65 loss. The Red Storm outrebounded the Hokies 48-31 and created many second chance points for themselves, which proved to be the difference in the game. With the loss, their second straight, Tech drops to 4-2 this season.

Senior forward Carlos Dixon led the Hokies in scoring with 22 points, shooting 9-17 from the field, including 4-6 from beyond the three-point arc. Other Hokies who reached double figures in points were Jamon Gordon (10), Zabian Dowdell (14) and Coleman Collins (10). Gordon put together an outstanding line, with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals.

Freshman forward Deron Washington, who had been solid in averaging 16 points a game through Tech’s first five games, went cold against the Red Storm, shooting just 1-for-5 from the field for two points. Though Collins scored 10 points, he was 2-of-11 from the field, but shot the basketball well from the free-throw line (6-7).

The Hokies came out of the gate quickly, stealing the ball and scoring a basket just after tip-off. St. John’s led 11-8 before the Hokies ripped off a 15-1 run to make the score 23-12. Tech maintained the lead until 2:35 in the first half. The Red Storm took a 36-35 lead with 1:40 remaining in the half, and never looked back. Tech set themselves up for the last possession of the first half trailing by three, but shot the ball too early and gave the ball back to St. John’s, who converted at the buzzer and took a five-point lead into the locker room 40-35.

Tech trailed early in the second half and found some life when Gordon stole the ball, drove to the basket and got fouled on the converted layup, making the score 54-48 in favor of the Red Storm. However, Tech could not put together many consecutive, successful possessions and St. John’s was able to hold onto the lead.

With just under five minutes remaining, the Hokies pulled within five points to make the score 65-60, but turned the ball over two straight times, not allowing themselves to fully get back into the game.

For the Red Storm, sophomore forward Lamont Hamilton scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds to lead his team, and junior guard Darryl Hill chipped in 18, despite a 4-of-17 shooting performance (Hil made 10 of 11 free throws). Last year Hill experienced success against the Hokies as well, scoring 27 of St. John’s 53 points in a 54-53 Tech win in Blacksburg.

The Hokies return to the friendly confines of Cassell Coliseum Saturday night when they take on James Madison University. The tip off is set for 8 pm. The Dukes, members of the CAA, are 2-2 thus far this season.

Notes

  • Junior guard Markus Sailes logged two minutes against St. John’s, despite the previous news that he would redshirt this season. Sailes suffered a tibular stress fracture in his right leg and played 11 minutes against Loyola.
  • Freshman center Robert Krabbendam started his first game as a Virginia Tech Hokie in place of Coleman Collins, who is slated to have surgery on his foot to ease the pain he is suffering from a cyst. Krabbendam added 2 points, shooting 1-3 from the field, and grabbed several important rebounds.
  • Senior forward Carlos Dixon reached 1,000 points for his career in the game against St. John’s when he made his first shot. Dixon now has 1,020 points in his career.

VIRGINIA TECH (65)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
D Washington        17   1-5   0-0   0-1   0   4    2
C Dixon             34  9-17   0-0   1-7   0   3   22
R Krabbendam        20   1-3   0-0   0-4   0   2    2
Z Dowdell           32   5-7   3-3   0-2   3   1   14
J Gordon            34   3-9   3-5   3-7   6   4   10
S Harris             2   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
M Cooke             20   2-8   0-0   0-0   3   1    5
A Calloway          14   0-2   0-0   0-2   1   2    0
M Sailes             2   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
C Collins           25  2-11   6-7   5-6   0   4   10
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 23-62 12-15  9-29  13  21   65
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.371, FT-.800.

3-Point Goals: 7-15, .467 (C Dixon 4-6, R Krabbendam 0-1,
Z Dowdell 1-1, J Gordon 1-4, M Cooke 1-3).

Team Rebounds: 2.

Blocked Shots: 7 (C Dixon 2, C Collins, Z Dowdell, J Gordon,
D Washington, R Krabbendam).

Turnovers: 11 (C Dixon 2, Z Dowdell 2, D Washington 2, S Harris,
M Cooke, R Krabbendam, J Gordon, C Collins).

Steals: 11 (J Gordon 6, C Dixon 2, C Collins, M Cooke, Z Dowdell).

ST JOHNS (75)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
R Epperson          34  4-11   0-0   2-3   1   1    9
D Gray              16   3-6   0-0   4-7   0   4    6
L Hamilton          38  9-13  6-10  3-11   1   2   24
D Hill              38  4-14 10-11   1-7   3   2   18
C Jackson           21   3-6   1-2   2-4   0   3    8
T Jones             19   2-2   0-0   4-5   0   0    4
E Lawrence          19   1-3   0-2   0-3   5   2    3
P Missere            3   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
R Williams           8   1-1   1-2   0-1   0   2    3
M Diakite            4   0-0   0-2   0-1   0   1    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 27-56 18-29 16-42  10  17   75
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.482, FT-.621.

3-Point Goals: 3-10, .300 (R Epperson 1-3, D Hill 0-2, C Jackson 1-2,
E Lawrence 1-3).

Team Rebounds: 6.

Blocked Shots: 7 (L Hamilton 4, M Diakite, D Hill, P Missere).

Turnovers: 16 (D Hill 6, L Hamilton 4, R Epperson 3, T Jones, C Jackson,
E Lawrence).

Steals: 5 (D Hill 3, R Epperson, C Jackson).


-----------------------------------
VIRGINIA TECH        35  30   -  65
ST JOHNS             40  35   -  75
----------------------------------- 

Technical fouls: None. A: 3,419. Officials: Bryan 
Kersey, Michael Kitts, William Bush


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