12/29/07 Virginia Tech-Hofstra Pride men's basketball gamer for the Newport News Daily Press

Tech rebounds nicely

After a frustrating loss at Wake Forest, the Hokies roll past Hofstra, which was playing without its leading scorer.

By Denis Gorman/Correspondent

Daily Press

10:39 PM EST, December 28, 2007

NEW YORK--The seconds were ticking off the clock and Virginia Tech's Hank Thorns was caught in between two Hofstra Pride defenders. White jerseys to his left and right, and the clock taunting the 5-9 freshman from Las Vegas.

A hard dribble, maybe two, and Thorns was at the free-throw line with the ball was floating toward the basket. The ball bounced off the backboard and nestled through the net a split second before the first half ended.

Unlike last Sunday afternoon, there was not going to be a heartbreaking learning lesson for Seth Greenberg's remarkably young team.

Five days after absorbing its toughest loss of the early season, the Hokies (7-5) never were seriously threatened in their 84-59 first-round win over Hofstra on Friday night in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. The Hokies will play Saturday against St. John's, which beat Marist 62-59.

Hofstra (2-7) did not have senior guard Antoine Agudio, who missed the game with a high ankle sprain. Agudio is tied with Niagara guard/forward Charron Fisher as the nation's leading scorer, averaging 27.4 points per game. Without Agudio, it made for a relatively easy night for the Hokies. Consider that in the first game between the two programs:

* Thorns' buzzer-beater gave Virginia Tech a 22-point lead at the half, 45-32. In the second half, the Hokies pushed the advantage to 33 (84-51).

* The Hokies shot .563 from the floor, .375 from 3-point range and made almost 65 percent of their free throws. Compare that to Hofstra, which "connected" .343 from the field, made 1-of-10 from 3 and shot .522 from the free-throw line.

"When you are a kid, you get beat up--and I did--you how to give one, too," Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said. "I thought (Virginia Tech) did a wonderful job defending the 3-point line tonight."

Simply, it was an exhibition of how Greenberg wants his team to play: Pressure defense forcing turnovers and those turnovers being converted into easy baskets. The Hokies recorded 11 steals and blocked seven shots, leading to 19 points off of turnovers.

"Coach Greenberg wants us to push it up," said senior forward Deron Washington. Washington, freshman forward Jeff Allen and junior guard A.D. Vassallo tied for the game high in scoring with 17 points each.

"We score off of our defense; we know what we have to on the defensive end."

Greenberg stressed that his team -- which has seven freshmen -- has to learn how to play a complete game in order to avoid the kind of losses that keep teams from reaching post-season play.

"I am not sure we played all that well," said Greenberg, who noted that at one point, the Hokies had five freshmen on the court. "Twenty-one offensive rebounds (allowed) is a good place to start. That is probably the biggest flaw.

"We didn't guard the ball in the second half. We were reaching and slapping, (and) we have to get better. In our conference, you have to play better to win."

Tonight, the Hokies will have another opportunity to win. And learn.

Copyright © 2007, Newport News, Va., Daily Press

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