January 22, 2012

A streak of ten straight wins at John Paul Jones Arena, dating back to last season, came to an end Sunday night when Virginia Tech defeated the No. 15 Cavaliers 47-45. In front of a sold-out crowd, the Hokies hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to secure the victory.

The win is the Hokies first in conference play as they improve to 12-7 overall, 1-4 in the ACC. Virginia falls to 2-2 in conference action, 15-2 overall.

"They had a great game plan defensively coming in and they really stuck with us, said sophomore guard Joe Harris. "They made it tough to get any inside looks."

"Our defense was there but they just hit a lot of tough shots," said junior guard Jontel Evans."It was few breakdowns on defense and not being able to make shots on offense is what hurt us."

Erick Green led Virginia Tech with 15 points, while Hudson added 12. On a night where Virginia shot 32.6% from the field, three Cavaliers scored 10 points each; Mike Scott, Evans, and Harris.

After a low-scoring first half, the Hokies led 23-19 at the break and extended their lead to as much as seven (four times) in the second half. Virginia took a three-point lead with four minutes to play before Tech went on a 10-5 run to end the game.

In the final minute, a Jontel Evans jumper put the Cavaliers within one, down 44-43. The Hokies answered with 17 seconds left when Dorenzo Hudson hit a three-pointer to give Tech a four-point edge 47-43.

"This is a tough loss but it's a loss," said head coach Tony Bennett. "I've always said, it's what you do after that loss. We have to take tomorrow off and regroup. We learn from it and hopefully come out and are more efficient offensively and continue to battle defensively."

Virginia shot a season-low 32.6 percent (15-46) from the field, 7.1 percent (1-14) from three-point range, and 63.6 percent (14-22) from the free-throw line.

The Cavaliers complete their two-game homestand Thursday night when they host Boston College at 7 p.m.