Defense Leads Hokies to Success Against Tigers

by Debbie Ballard

February 7, 2010

After each practice, every member of the men's basketball team has to shoot 100 free throws. "I think it helps," said the Hokies' Terrell Bell after the game against Clemson.

"We've been doing that since the start of the year."

Anyone who watched him and the Hokies defeat the Tigers yesterday knows that it definitely gave Virginia Tech the advantage in the long run.

The Hokies, who only made 30% of their field goals and 18% of their 3-point shots, sank an amazing 83% of their foul shots.

Tech guard Malcolm Delaney shot 23 free throws, making 20 of them. Delaney and junior guard Dorenzo Hudson have now tied the school record for number of successful foul shots in a game.

In fact, more than half of the points scored by Virginia Tech in last night's game came from foul shots. Out of 70 total points, 38 came from the charity stripe.

Several of the players attributed the lack of scoring to sluggishness on the court.

The tip-off against Clemson came less than 48 hours after the win over North Carolina and the quick turnaround certainly affected Tech's ability to compete with the Tigers in the first half.

"The first half we struggled, and we pushed through the wall," Bell said. "We were sluggish. The crowd was great, and they helped us pick it up."

Good defense accomplished what the Hokies' lack of scoring could not.

Throughout the first half the Tigers were held to just 27 points, and scored only once in the last 3:48 of the game while Virginia Tech racked up nine points and grabbed a two-point lead.

"We played good defense, that's what really got us in the game," Jeff Allen said.

The second half, to the despair of the over 9,000 packed into sold-out Cassell Coliseum, almost looked to be a repeat of the first.

Both teams went back and forth in the scoring, trading one-point leads on numerous occasions.

The turning point came at 14:48 with a shot from Delaney that turned the game around and put the Hokies ahead for good.

The Tigers were able to shorten the Hokies' lead to four when Bryan Narcisse tipped in a missed shot from Devin Booker with 8:46 left, but that was as close as it got and only happened once.

Delaney saw most of the scoring action in the second half due to foul shots, but Bell and Erick Green also contributed several free throws, as well as a three-pointer from Bell.

Overall, the students who were admitted free due to the weather were treated to a nail-biting game, even if it was hard to watch at times.

"We just didn't shoot the ball well, but we did what we had to to get the win and that's all that matters. It doesn't matter how ugly it was," Delaney said.

The Hokies next take on NC State away on Feb.10 at 8 p.m.