Before the game, Jamon Gordon and Seth Greenberg had tears in their eyes as the five VT seniors got ready to hit the Cassell hardwood for the final time.  After the game, many players likely had tears again out of disappointment.  The Hokies (20-10, 10-6) had an ACC regular season title right in their grasp and let it slip away in a 75-74 loss to the clemson tigers (21-9, 7-9).

K.C. Rivers, who led clemson with 22 points, hit a bank shot from six feet with 20 seconds to go to give clemson a 75-74 lead.  Dowdell missed a jumper from just inside the three-point line with 15 seconds to go.  After Hamilton missed the front end of a one-and-one for the tigers, a mad scramble ensued that ate up all but 1.7 seconds.  Again, the tigers missed both free throws and VT called a timeout with 1.5 left.  The length of the court pass was tipped away and time ran out for the Hokies.  This was just Tech’s second loss at home all season.

The game was nip-and-tuck for the entire second half.  The clemson lead fluctuated between one and five points for the first eight minutes of the second half.  VT finally tied it on a Vassallo three at 56 with 11:30 to play.  Tech took their first lead since 2-0 at 66-65.  Dowdell hit a jumper with 50 seconds left to put VT up 74-73.

Zabian Dowdell led the Hokies with 25 points on 8/11 shooting in his final game at Cassell.  Gordon had 14, Washington 11, and Vassallo 10 for the Hokies.  The Hokies outscored clemson 42-40 in the second half and lost for just the second time all year when eclipsing the 69 point mark (17-2). 

Both teams scored seemingly at will in the second half.  Each team got tons of open looks and easy buckets.  Tech shot 57% for the game, while clemson shot 51%.  Tech had 8 steals to 6 for the tigers.  clemson was a pitiful 9/19 on free throws, but 10/19 on threes.

All five starters: Jamon Gordon, Zabian Dowdell, Coleman Collins, Markus Sailes, and Chris Tucker, were given the starting nod in a nice tribute.  It is hard to put into words what these seniors have meant to Virginia Tech basketball, and heck, to this web site!  Losing these guys means so much because of what they have accomplished at a school with NO basketball success to speak of in recent years.  They have truly changed Virginia Tech from a football school to a football school that is starting to care a lot about basketball (it’s a start).  Each one of them will truly be missed.

Next up for Tech is second round game on Friday in the ACC Tournament.  Tech’s seeding (no better than #2 and no worse than #4) will be determined later today.  VT’s opponent is unknown at this time.

Box Score

First Half:

Virginia Tech came out flatter than Lacey Underall in Caddyshack.  They weren’t fighting through screens allowing clemson to get open looks.  The tigers are a lousy shooting team, but any major college player can hit a wide open three.  VT was also turning the ball over often early on.  clemson jumped to a 15-6 lead at the first TV timeout and used an 11-0 run later on to go up 26-11 with 10 minutes left.  Surprisingly, the tigers did not press to start the game but did at times in the first half.  That’s when the Zabian Dowdell show started up.

Dowdell had five turnovers at the 10 minute mark of the first half and no points.  Then, he promptly went on a 10-0 run all by himself over the next three minutes to cut the lead to 26-21.  He finished the half with 15 points. 

Tech used a 10-0 run to close the half to cut the clemson lead to 35-32 at the break.  K.C. Rivers, the lone good shooter for the tigers, had 11 points at the break to lead clemson.  Virginia native Vernon Hamilton had 10 points, most early on.  Jamon Gordon had Tech’s first six points but did not score again and sat the last five minutes with two fouls.

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