Hurricanes Fall To Hokies, 71-58
Feb. 19, 2005
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) – Zabian Dowdell scored 17 points, nine in the last 10minutes as Virginia Tech broke open the game and a fourth-place tie with Miami,71-58, in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday night.
Coleman Collins added 18 points and five rebounds and Jamon Gordon 13 forthe Hokies (14-10, 7-6), who remained tied with Maryland. Deron Washingtonadded 10.
Guillermo Diaz led Miami (15-9, 6-7) with 12 points. William Frisby scored12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Robert Hite added 11 points and AnthonyHarris 10 for the Hurricanes.
Frisby hit four free throws to pull the Hurricanes back in the game, cuttingthe lead to 52-46 with 10:20 to play. Miami had trailed 50-36 just minutes intothe second half before a 10-2 run.
After Miami’s run, Dowdell broke open the game burying back-to-back3-pointers to stretch the lead to 12. The Hurricanes never cut the lead tosingle digits again.
“They made a small run and I just wanted to come out and make a play,”Dowdell said. “I caught the ball in rhythm and got a good release and it wentin.”
“Dowdell hit two big threes. That really hurt us,” said Hite. “It justseemed like guys dropped their heads after that.”
Fouled while attempting a trey, Dowdell’s three free throws gave VirginiaTech its largest lead, 68-50, with just under five minutes to play.
“We just couldn’t get a shot,” said Frisby. “We just couldn’t get anystops at that point.”
Virginia Tech opened a 19-9 lead in the game’s first 10 minutes and held adouble-digit lead for much of the game. Miami’s Harris dunked to close themargin to 26-20 with just under seven minutes to play in the half. Dowdellanswered with a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine.
Collins extended it to double digits, 33-22, with a jumper. Washingtonclosed the half with four free throws to make it 41-28.
The Hokies shot 60 percent before the break. Miami, just 1-for-6 from beyondthe arc in the half, shot 42 percent. Tech cooled to 54 percent for the game.Miami shot 40 percent, but outrebounded the Hokies 31-25.
