Terps Stun Hokies in Double Overtime; 104-100

by Brian Bartley
February 28, 2010

When Saturday's game was delayed three hours due to water main breaks, the Hokies should have taken that to be a bad sign for things to come.  When the game finally tipped-off, Greivis Vasquez scored 41 points that helped the Maryland Terrapins squeak past the Hokies 104-100 in a double overtime thriller.

"It's very tough," a visibly grieving Malcolm Delaney said after Saturday's loss.  "We put ourselves in position to win the game plenty of times.  We just didn't win it."

The Hokies held a 37-31 lead going into halftime, but Vasquez only had eight points by that point. 

In the second half and beyond, Vasquez erupted for 33 points. 

Just as quickly as the Hokies seized control of a seven point advantage on a Terrell Bell three-pointer with 16:37, Vasquez heated up and scored nine points during a 13-3 run over the next three minutes that catapulted the Terps into the lead, 56-53.

"He played great tonight," J.T. Thompson said.  "When they needed one, he had it--he was the go-to-guy."

Tech responded with a run of their own led by Jeff Allen, who had 25 points and 15 rebounds in the losing effort.

Allen scored 10 points in the ensuing five minutes of the game, including a dazzling ally-oop dunk to knot the game 64-64 with around nine minutes remaining.

The Hokies and Terps traded blows for the remainder of regulation, with J.T. Thompson knocking down a 3-pointer with 15.1 seconds left that tied the game at 80. 

Maryland's Eric Hayes then responded with a jumper that appeared to win it for the Terrapins.  Instead, Malcolm Delaney got the ball, charged down court and sliced his way for a lay-up with under a second left that sent the game into overtime.

In the final minute of the first overtime, neither Delaney nor Vasquez could convert on final shots break an 89-89 tie 

In the second overtime, Delaney missed two free throws that could have tied the game with 39.5 seconds left, and the Hokies were forced to foul.  Hayes went to the line and converted on both free throws to seal the game for Maryland.

"I just missed," Delaney said as he stared at the floor.  "We lost, I can't appreciate a game that we lost.  I hate losing.  There's nothing I appreciate about that--we played hard, but we lost.

If the Hokies had beaten Maryland, it would have been another quality win and would have silenced any of the remaining doubt about the Hokies' tournament resume.  Instead, Saturday's loss, the third straight for Tech, has some questioning their postseason chances yet again. 

"I don't know how to make the tournament, that's for you guys to decide," Delaney said. "I don't know how tough it is to get in the tournament now.  We just have to come out and win some games."

The Hokies will likely need to win at least one of their remaining two games to keep the doubters at bay.  They get their first crack at that task on Wednesday when N.C. State visits the Hokies for their last home game of the season. 

The Hokies travel to Atlanta next Saturday where they'll close out the regular season against Georgia Tech.  

Tip-off for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum.  

 Game Notes:

-Leading Scorers: VT-  (Delaney-27, Allen-25, Hudson-21, Thompson-15, Bell-10)

                               UMD- (Vasquez-41, Mosley-17, Hayes-12)

-       Vasquez's 41 points is the second highest total for any player visiting Cassell Coliseum [Aaron Jackson- 46 (Duquesne '09)]. 

- Saturday night's game was Virginia Tech's first double overtime game in ACC play ever.