St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Virginia Tech
St. John's Valiant Effort Falls Just Short
2/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 21, 2004
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Bryan Randall made a go-ahead putback with 22 seconds left and Virginia Tech survived a last-second 3-point attempt by Daryll Hill to beat St. John's 54-53 on Saturday night.
Randall, the Hokies starting quarterback who joined the basketball team after the season started, scored the last three points for Virginia Tech (11-12, 4-8 Big East), atoning for a missed free throw with 26 seconds left with the rebound and basket.
St. John's (6-17, 1-11) got 27 points from Hill and 13 points and 13 rebounds from Kyle Cuffe, but had 24 turnovers that the Hokies turned into 29 points. Hill had 10 of those turnovers, one with five seconds to play before St. John's got the ball back.
Bryant Matthews and Zabian Dowdell each scored 12 points for Virginia Tech and Matthews grabbed 10 rebounds, including one that kept the possession alive after Randall's missed free throw and another following Hill's last-second miss.
The Hokies, who trailed throughout the first half and by 29-21 at halftime, finally took the lead on Dowdell's 3-pointer with 8:09 to play. The shot gave the Hokies a 45-43 lead that they kept until the last two minutes.
Cuffe's two free throws with 1:38 remaining tied it at 51 and his putback with 46 seconds to go gave the Red Storm a 53-51 edge. But Randall hit 1 of 2 foul shots with 26 seconds left, then followed Matthews' putback miss with his game-winner.
The Hokies also had two steals in the last 22 seconds, but Matthews missed a free throw after the first and Markus Sailes turned it back over after making a steal.
Randall and Coleman Collins added nine points each for the Hokies, whose reserves outscored St. John's 14-0. Virginia Tech had 21 fast-break points, St. John's four.
