Highlights Coming Soon…  / Boxscore

For the second game in a row it was the Jarell Eddie and Cadarian Raines show as the Hokies took down a pesky norfolk state team in the Cassell Sunday by a 73-60 score in the first ever meeting between Tech and norfolk state from the MEAC.

Eddie, who had 15 points and 6 rebounds Wednesday against rhode island, exploded for a career high 24 points (including 5/6 from behind the arc and 7/7 from the line).  He also chipped in 7 rebounds, tying his season high.

Raines, who went for a career high 12 points against rhodey, hit double digits again with 10 off the bench.  He also snagged 7 rebounds.  The big man is flat out playing great right now and giving the Hokies a much needed presence inside while Davila continues to struggle (6 points but 0 rebounds today).

Don’t let the final score fool you, this game was very much in doubt until Jarell Eddie buried his 5th 3-pointer of the game with 1:09 to go to put VT up 69-59.  The Hokies controlled the game after the first few minutes, but just couldn’t put things away until that last minute.

The spartans jumped out to a 5-0 lead right out of the gates.  Early on for nsu it was all Pendarvis Williams.  He had 12 points in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the game, and the spartans led 20-18 after his 3-point play.  Then, Jarell Eddie went ape, scoring 12 points in the final 6 minutes of the first half and the Hokies took a 29-24 lead to the break.  Eddie even converted a 4-point play to turn a 26-23 deficit into a 27-26 lead with 4:10 to go in the first half.  That fueled a 10-0 VT run that put the Hokies up 33-26.  They never trailed (or were tied) after that.

In the second half, norfolk state’s star, big man Kyle O’Quinn who averages a double-double, had 4 quick points to keep the spartans close.  Those 4 points game him 14 for the game but he would not score in the final 18 minutes, and fouled out with just over 4 minutes to go.

The big story in the second half for the spartans was Chris Mceachin.  He scored 16 of his 18 points in the final 20 (and had 16 of nsu’s 26 points after the break).  But nsu could not get closer than 4 points in the second half.

Tech, meanwhile, was hot to start the second half.  They jumped to their first double digit lead, a 55-45 advantage, with 13:08 to go on a (you guessed it) Jarell Eddie 3-pointer.  But Tech would make just ONE field goal over the next 10 minutes and just 4 FGs total in the final 13:08.

Luckily, VT was in the bonus most of those final 13 minutes and did a great job from the line, hitting 16/20 (80%).  Tech shot 42% from the field, but were a scorching hot 47% (7/15) from 3-point range, largely due to Eddie.

The big key for the Hokies was offensive rebounds.  Tech grabbed 16 offensive boards leading to 17 second chance points (nsu had 9).  They also had just 9 turnovers, the first time all year they’ve managed to keep that in single digits.  The spartans had 13 turnovers and the Hokies outscored nsu 15-8 in points off turnovers.

norfolk state shot 49% from the field as again VT did not do a good job defending on the ball.  This appears to now be Tech’s most glaring weakness, as they’ve improved at rebounding and protecting the ball (VT also still stinks in transition).

Erick Green had a relatively quiet game for him.  He scored 12 points, but never took over the game like he normally does.  He scored 5 early points but went almost 20 minutes before scoring again.

Tech gets a much needed break to finish up finals.  They return to action next Saturday against the campbell camels at 4 PM in the Cassell.

By the way, I’m never one to gloat, but I have to laugh… I predicted VT would win by 11-15 in the preview.  I’m now 3-0 in getting the final margin right this season.  Maybe I should be betting on this stuff.