Hokies get another close win

BLACKSBURG — Sometime around 4 a.m. today, the Virginia Tech basketball team will leave campus in a bus and catch a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they will play three non-conference games that could bolster or shake their NCAA tournament resume come March. Tech coach Seth Greenberg very well might spend the plane ride thinking back to the Hokies’ first two games, during which they showed the guts to hold off smaller schools but also plenty of flaws that could prove more detrimental against stiffer competition.

The Hokies improved to 2-0 on Monday at Cassell Coliseum with another squeaker, beating Mount St. Mary’s 62-57. The close outcome was typical of the Hokies lately. Last season, their games were determined by an average of 5.5 points. They opened this season Friday with a 65-62 win over Gardner-Webb.

The Mountaineers led by as many as eight points in the second half — after guard Jean Cajou hit a 3-pointer to make it 43-35 with 9:15 left. But the game swung with 1:40 remaining, when Tech guard Malcolm Delaney hit the first of two free throws, cutting the Mountaineers’ lead to 52-50. After he missed the second, forward Jeff Allen grabbed the rebound and tipped it to Delaney, who dished it to senior wing A.D. Vassallo on the elbow. Vassallo knocked down a 3-pointer that gave Tech a 53-52 lead. It was Tech’s first lead since it was up 23-21 with 35 seconds left in the first half.

“I was too ready for it,” Vassallo said. “Before Malcolm even passed me the ball, I saw myself knocking the shot down.”

Delaney led the Hokies Monday with 18 points and shot 13 of 15 on free throws, which were critical in holding off the Mountaineers (1-1) in the final minutes. Vassallo had 15 points. Allen scored 13, including nine in the second half.

“Our teams always get better,” Greenberg said. “We’re gonna be OK. We’re not gonna panic.”

Said Allen: “I think we just need to get our act together.”

The Hokies will get little rest in the coming days. In the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament, they play Fairfield at 11 a.m. Thursday and the winner of Missouri-Xavier on Friday. Tech also could face Southern California or Memphis, last season’s national runner-up. The tournament’s final games are Sunday. The event also will be a homecoming for two Hokies, Vassallo and freshman Victor Davila, who grew up in Puerto Rico but attended high school in the United States.

Tech struggled in the first half, shooting 30.4 percent. Sophomore forward Jeff Allen, who scored 17 points in the first half against Gardner-Webb, had just four in the first half last night, as he was slowed by foul trouble. The Hokies scored just eight points from 16:17 to 4:54, including one field goal in that span — a jumper by guard Malcolm Delaney with 10:25 left. But they stayed in the game, and trailed just 24-23 at halftime, because the Mountaineers were just as inaccurate, shooting 32.1 percent. In the final 7:18 of the half, they scored just eight points, including a Jeremy Goode 3-pointer that gave them a 24-23 lead with 32 seconds left — their first lead since 9-7 at 12:05.

The Hokies were without two of their top three players, Delaney and Allen, for the final 4:44 of the first half. Delaney went to the bench after picking up his second foul with 9:24 left. Allen joined him after picking up his second with 4:48 left. Delaney played just nine minutes in the first half, Allen 10. Allen picked up two fouls in the second half, but he played 18 minutes, avoiding his fifth foul while playing physically enough in the post to grab five rebounds. Delaney had one foul in the second half, during which he played all 20 minutes.