St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
5-2
Virginia Tech
7-3
St. John's Falls To Hokies In Blacksburg Battle
12/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2005
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Coleman Collins scored 21 points and Zabian Dowdell added 18 Saturday as Virginia Tech held off St. John's, 73-64.
Collins hit six breakaway dunks, three straight in the second half. The Red Storm (5-2) kept Collins off the boards, but he hit nine of 13 from the floor, mostly in transition. Markus Sailes added 11 points and Deron Washington 10 for the Hokies (7-3).
Daryll Hill scored 15 points, Lamont Hamilton 12, and Eugene Lawrence 11 for the Red Storm, who led for the only time after Hamilton's opening basket.
St. John's trailed 31-29 at halftime and 39-29 shortly after the Hokies began the second half on an 8-0 run. The Red Storm rallied to within 48-46 when Ricky Torres stole the ball from Dowdell and drove the lane for a layup at the 10:15 mark.
Collins, however, answered with consecutive dunks and the Red Storm got no closer.
The Hokies scored 11 straight after Hamilton's opening basket. Collins led the way with a hook and two dunks, and built it as high as 20-7 midway through the half.
St. John's came back with a 12-3 run led by Lawrence, who hit six. Lawrence followed two free throws with a running jumper. His layup cut it to 25-21 with just under 4 minutes in the half. Virginia Tech's offense sputtered when Gordon, the point guard, went to the bench with his second foul less than 8 minutes in. St. John's point guard Daryll Hill took advantage, scoring six of the last seven in the half to pull within 31-29.
At halftime, the 1995 NIT Champion Virginia Tech team was honored at midcourt.
