Published: November 16, 2009 12:36 am      

Hokies share the leather, beat Brown

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Much of the talk around Virginia Tech’s men in the preseason concerned the need to find a third scorer to complement Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen.

At first glance, Sunday’s season-opening 69-55 win over Brown in Cassell Coliseum didn’t seem to solve the problem.

Delaney fired in a game-high 21 points and Allen had 17 for the Hokies, which never trailed but led by just five points with 11:37 left before pulling away from the Bears.

No one else got to double figures, but Terrell Bell, Victor Davila and Dorenzo Hudson each scored eight.

“People talk about how we lost A.D. (Vassallo) and his 19 points,” Delaney said.

“Well, we had three guys score eight. That’s better than 19 a game.”

“That kind of balance will make us tougher to guard,” Allen said. “Opponents have to account for everyone on the court.”

Bell and Hudson each stuffed the stat sheet. Bell finished with a game-high seven rebounds and four assists, while Hudson added six of each.

Offense wasn’t the issue for Tech, which canned 46 percent of its shots and had nearly twice as many assists as turnovers (15-to-8) in a slowly-paced contest.

What most concerned coach Seth Greenberg was his team’s lack of defensive discipline against Brown’s high-low sets in the second half. At one point, the Bears scored on five straight possessions, with F Andrew McCarthy and C Matt Mullery riddling the Hokies.

“They just stretched the shot clock out and waited for us to make a mistake,” he said. “Fortunately, we didn’t make that many mistakes, but we didn’t guard the post like we’re capable of.”

That’s why Davila, who had just three rebounds in 22 minutes, sat out most of the second half. Greenberg opted for senior Lewis Witcher or junior J.T. Thompson, who are more likely to stand their ground in the lane.

“Victor’s just got to grit his teeth a little more in there,” Greenberg said.

Tech also shelved its motion offense most of the day as Brown’s defense allowed it to enter the ball inside with little difficulty.

“We didn’t run much of it until the end,” Allen said. “We went to set plays because we had to score.”

The Hokies did enough of it, matching the Bruins’ five straight scores midway through the second half and then pulling away when they managed to string together four straight stops.

Tech’s lead grew as large as 16 points down the stretch, a far cry from its struggles in the last two openers — narrow wins against Elon and Gardner-Webb.

“It was close most of the day, but we were never worried,” Delaney said.

McCarthy scored 14 points off the bench for the Bears, while Mullery added 13 plus six assists.

The game was part of the Philly Hoop Group Classic, a seven-team event which will climax over Thanksgiving weekend at the storied Palestra. The Hokies will play Temple and Delaware.

Tech returns to action Tuesday with a 7:05 p.m. start against UNC–Greensboro.

*****

BROWN (1-1) — Taylor 2-3 1-2 5, P.Sullivan 0-6 4-6 4, Mullery 5-10 2-4 13, Williams 0-4 1-2 1, M.Sullivan 4-9 0-1 11, Gruber 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Leffelman 2-2 0-0 5, McCarthy 7-11 0-0 14, Herbert-Harris 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-47 8-15 55.

VIRGINIA TECH (1-0) — Allen 8-14 0-1 17, Bell 3-7 1-1 8, Davila 3-6 2-4 8, Hudson 3-7 1-2 8, Delaney 6-12 6-8 21, Green 1-1 0-0 3, Witcher 0-0 0-2 0, Boggs 1-2 0-0 2, Thompson 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 26-56 10-18 69.

Halftime—Virginia Tech 34-23. 3-Point Goals—Brown 5-14 (M.Sullivan 3-7, Leffelman 1-1, Mullery 1-2, Williams 0-2, P.Sullivan 0-2), Virginia Tech 7-17 (Delaney 3-7, Green 1-1, Bell 1-2, Hudson 1-3, Allen 1-4). Fouled Out—Bell. Rebounds—Brown 31 (M.Sullivan, P.Sullivan 5), Virginia Tech 33 (Bell 7). Assists—Brown 15 (Mullery 6), Virginia Tech 15 (Hudson 6). Total Fouls—Brown 19, Virginia Tech 16. A—9,693.