Hokies Struggle Again, Get Blown Out in Beantown

Games in Boston haven’t been very kind to Virginia Tech this year. The football team suffered their worst moment of the season there in October, and on Saturday it was the men’s basketball team that got crushed by Boston College. The Eagles controlled the game from the very beginning, beating the Hokies 80-59 to claim sole possession of second place in the ACC.

The marks the first time this season that the Hokies (16-7, 6-3) have lost two consecutive games. Boston College improves to 16-6 overall and 7-2 in ACC play with their victory.

For the second consecutive game, Virginia Tech got their biggest spark from small forward Deron Washington. Washington had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He was 4-of-6 from the free throw line. He also pulled down six rebounds, four of which were offensive rebounds, and had several thunderous dunks.

Jamon Gordon did a good job of filling up the stat sheet. The senior guard from Jacksonville scored eight points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out five assists and had three steals. He turned the ball over just once during the game in 34 minutes of action.

Zabian Dowdell scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Hokies. Washington, Dowdell and Gordon combined for 22 of Virginia Tech’s 30 rebounds. Post players Coleman Collins, Cheick Diakite, Robert Krabbendam, Lewis Witcher and Chris Tucker combined for just four rebounds in a combined 56 minutes of playing time.

BC out-rebounded the Hokies 35-30, and 14-11 on the offensive glass. That may not seem like a huge margin, but the Eagles did outscore Tech 26-14 in second chance points. They had a 15-3 advantage in second chance points at halftime.

Boston College came out firing on all cylinders, opening the game with a 10-1 run in the first 2:20. Their first five points of the game came following offensive rebounds, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Hokies immediately called a timeout and got themselves together, and played much better over the next several minutes. A layup by Zabian Dowdell at the 11:31 mark of the first half made the score 19-14 Boston College. Virginia Tech appeared to have overcome their slow start, and it looked like they might climb back into the game.

Unfortunately for Hokies, Boston College saw things differently. The Eagles went on a 20-2 run that was capped by a three-pointer by Tyrese Rice with 4:52 remaining in the first half. The only points the Hokies could manage during that span came on a layup by Jamon Gordon.

Tech cut the lead to 44-26 right before halftime, following another layup by Gordon. But BC’s Sean Marshall hit a tough three-pointer with two seconds left in the first half, and Eagles went into the halftime break with a 21 point lead and the momentum.

Virginia Tech was effectively out of the game at that point, though they did play better in the second half. The Hokies cut the BC lead to 14 points on six occasions in the second half, but each time they could not get any closer, having dug themselves too big a hole.

Tech eventually cut the lead to 69-56 following another layup by Gordon at the 4:08 mark, but it was too late. The Eagles played well down the stretch and went on to win the game 80-59.

Virginia Tech gets a much-needed week off before taking on UVA in Cassell Coliseum next Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 4pm, and the game will be televised by Raycom/Lincoln Financial.