Virginia Tech struggled early, but blew the game open in the second half in a 70-52 victory over Longwood on Saturday night. The Hokies are now 13-5 overall, and remain 3-2 in the ACC heading into a big road game at Georgia Tech. Longwood dropped to 7-15 with the loss.
Malcolm Delaney led the Hokies with 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He also had four assists. Point guard Erick Green had 14 points, five assists, one block and two steals in 34 minutes of action. Green was 5-of-11 from the field, and scored in double figures in his 10th consecutive game.
Manny Atkins paced the Hokies with eight points off the bench. He knocked down both of his three-point attempts. Jeff Allen had just six points on 3-of-8 shooting, and for the most part Tech did a poor job of getting him the ball against the Longwood zone defense. Allen did pull down 10 rebounds and had three assists in 34 minutes.
Starting wing Terrell Bell and starting forward Victor Davila had seven points apiece, and though the Hokies didn’t play their best game, they escaped it with an easy win and no injuries.
Tech shot 44.6% from the field while limiting the Lancers to just 37%. Longwood had 16 turnovers, and they were out-rebounded 36-29. Though the Hokies didn’t execute particularly well, their superior talent and athleticism were more than enough in the end.
Longwood did lead several times in the first half, though a three-pointer from Manny Atkins put the Hokies up for good at the 6:09 mark of the first half. The Lancers scored just one point the remainder of the half, and Virginia Tech went into the halftime intermission with a 29-19 lead.
Longwood came as close as five points in the second half, when a jumper by Aaron Mitchell made the score 38-33 with 12:38 left in the game. However, the Hokies reestablished themselves at that point and quickly regained a double digit lead. Tech led by as many as 25 points following a fastbreak layup by Erick Green with 4:04 left to make the score 67-42.
At that point, the Hokies put in their backups and coasted to the easy win. Seth Greenberg summed up the game perfectly with the following quote:
“I’m just happy it’s over,” Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. “I’m happy no one got hurt. I’m happy we scored more points than them. That’s about all I’m happy with.”
The Hokies return to action on Tuesday night, when they travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 9pm, and the game will be televised by RSN.
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