January 25, 2003

Virginia Tech's two-game winning streak came to an end Saturday afternoon as the Hokies dropped a 62-59 heartbreaker to St. John's in a BIG EAST game played in front of 5,628 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

With the loss, Tech is now 8-9 overall, 1-3 in the BIG EAST. St. John's is 10-5, 3-2.

Fresh off a win over rival UVa on Tuesday night, Tech got off to a horrible start against the Red Storm, falling behind by 16 points less than 13 minutes into the game. The Hokies used an 8-0 run to get back in the game and ended up trailing by just eight at halftime.

Tech gradually climbed back in the game and took the lead, 46-45, on a Bryant Matthews' free throw with 7:25 remaining. Tech led just one other time before the Red Storm retook the lead and never relinquished it.

The big St. John's blow came after a 3-pointer by Tech's Carlos Dixon had shaved the Red Storm lead to 52-51 with 2:21 left in the game. On the Red Storm's ensuing possession, they ran the clock down and All-BIG EAST player Marcus Hatten found Elijah Ingram on the wing for an open 3-pointer. Ingram buried it with three seconds left on the shot clock and Tech never recovered.

The Hokies cut the lead to two twice in the final 1:30, but St. John's hit five of six free-throw attempts in the final 25 seconds to preserve the win.

"That was a big shot," Tech head coach Ricky Stokes said of Ingram's 3-pointer. "You concentrate on Hatten so much that you end up helping too much on him and he's unselfish. He finds the open guys."

Ingram led the Red Storm with 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the process. Hatten, who came into the game averaging 28.2 points per game in the Red Storm's previous five games, finished with just nine points on 3-of-15 from the floor. Hatten, though, dished out five assists, blocked two shots, recorded three steals and grabbed five rebounds.

Matthews continued his great play for Tech, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He also had four steals and two assists. Terry Taylor added 18 points and eight boards, while Dixon scored 16 points and dished out five assists.

The remaining Hokies scored just five points in the game. Tech, as a team, shot 41.7 percent from the floor - 53.6 in the second half. The Hokies, though, were outrebounded 38-33 and gave up 13 offensive boards.

"It was a typical BIG EAST game that came down to possession after possession," Stokes said. "They hit some key shots and we didn't get some key rebounds. This is a tough loss, but we'll have to rebound and try to get one against a good BC team."

Tech takes on BC next Wednesday night to complete a four-game homestand. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.