Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team, rasping on life support and with one foot in the grave, got a great second-half performance from Brendan Dunlop and balanced scoring to top ODU by 11 points in overtime in Cassell Coliseum, 78-67.

Dunlop hit his only three-pointer of the game to tie the score at 64 with thirty seconds to go, and then the Hokies scored the first 9 points of overtime to cruise to the win. Dunlop was 7-8 from the free throw line in overtime and had 15 second half points to carry Tech to the win.

Dennis Mims and Rolan Roberts led the Hokies to a 34-32 half time lead with 13 and 10 first-half points, respectively, but in the second half, Dunlop and Brian Chase took over. When Roberts and Mims went scoreless for almost the entire first ten minutes of the second half, Chase and Dunlop picked up the slack. In addition to Dunlop’s 15 points after half time, Chase had 9. The Hokies barely managed to hang on to the Monarchs, who took a 49-44 lead with eleven minutes to go.

Tech righted the ship and even took a 56-55 lead with five minutes to go, but then ODU got back up on top, 64-61, and had possession of the ball with a minute to go. The Hokies got ODU to turn it over on a five-second call, and then Dunlop hit his game-tying three-pointer.

ODU set up a clear out for one of their guards, but he suffered a mental breakdown while waiting for the clock to run down and start his move. As the ODU guard dribbled near half court and watched the clock go down below ten seconds, Dunlop got close enough to him to earn another five-second call from the referees. They whistled ODU for the infraction with 6.5 seconds to go, giving the Hokies chance to win the game in regulation.

Tech set up a play for Brian Chase, but Chase was double-teamed on the inbounds, so Dunlop threw it to Roberts, instead. Roberts got it back to Dunlop, who split the defense and almost made a driving layup as time wound down.

In overtime, the Hokies scored the first 9 points of the extra frame to go up 73-64 with a minute to go. ODU hit a three-pointer to close the gap to 73-67 and then started fouling. Tech hit the free throws and went on to the victory.

• Five Hokies scored in double figures: Mims (17), Dunlop (17), Roberts (16), Chase (14), Ray (10).
• Dunlop played 30 minutes off the bench and had 17 points, 7 assists, and no turnovers.
• Brian Chase hit 3-4 three-pointers, and the Hokies went 4-10 as a team.
• Rolan Roberts had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
• Ball-handling: Tech had 11 turnovers, 16 assists, and 9 steals.
• Tech shot 22-30 (73%) on their free throws, including 17-20 by Roberts, Mims, and Dunlop.
• ODU stayed in the game with 19 points from senior center Skipper Youngblood and eight three-pointers from five different players. The Monarchs shot 8-18 on three-pointers, but many of the misses came late, in desperation time. During regulation, they shot the three-pointers very well.

This was one of Tech’s better all-around games of the year. The Hokies didn’t particularly dominate the game, but they played steadily, played with poise, took care of the ball, and got contributions from different players throughout the game. Chase and Dobbins both did a good job of stepping up in the second half when ODU adjusted to shut down Mims and Roberts. (Tech’s inside duo only scored 10 points in the second half and overtime.)

The announced attendance was only 3,121. Tech is now virtually assured of setting a new all-time low average attendance record this year. The average attendance for this year is now 3,803, well below last year’s record of 4,040.

Tech’s next game is on the road against Rhode Island, which one A-10 journalist told me recently has "quit" on their coach, Jerry DeGregorio. URI is 5-17, including 2-15 in their last 17 games. The Rams have lost their last five games by 39 (UMass), 15 (St. Joseph’s), 40 (St. Bonaventure), 24 (Fordham), and 34 points (Temple). That’s an average margin of 30.4 points per game.

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