December 2, 2002

Tech's furious rally from a 17-point halftime deficit came up just short as the Hokies fell to Wofford 79-77 in a non-conference game Monday night in front of 3,114 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

The loss dropped the Hokies to 3-2 on the season and prevented the Hokies from winning their fourth straight game, which would have been a first in head coach Ricky Stokes' tenure. Wofford, a member of the Southern Conference, is now 2-2 on the year.

The Terriers led from start to finish, jumping out to that 17-point halftime lead thanks largely to 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. The Hokies, though, scored the first eight points of the second half, and midway through the second half, went on a 17-4 run to cut the Wofford lead to one, 58-57, on a Terry Taylor basket with 8:34 left in the game.

Wofford, however, kept making 3-pointers - its last five baskets in the game were 3's - and the Terriers eventually pushed their lead back to seven. Tech managed to cut the lead to one, 78-77, on Taylor's three-point play with 16 seconds left.

After Wofford's Lee Nixon missed a one-and-one with 14.1 seconds to go - about the only thing he missed on this evening - the Hokies brought the ball down with a chance to take the lead and/or win the game. But Eric Branham was called for charging with 7.6 seconds to go.

Tech tried to foul after that, but the Terriers did a great job of avoiding Tech's attempt and Nixon made a free throw with 0.9 seconds left to account for the final margin.

"We got what we wanted at the end - not the charge, but Eric penetrating," Stokes said. "We wanted him to get in the lane and either get a good shot or dish it. Things just didn't work out.

"It was a tale of two halves for us. In the first half, we didn't play well and you have to give Wofford credit. In the second half, we put ourselves in position. We just couldn't get over the hump."

Taylor led the Hokies with 21 points, hitting 8-of-9 from the floor, and 10 rebounds. Both Carlos Dixon and Dimari Thompkins added 14. Tech shot 46.4 percent from the floor and outrebounded Wofford 45-24.

But Tech's problems came on the defensive end and with turnovers (17 compared to just eight for Wofford). Wofford shot 46.3 percent and hit 13-of-23 from beyond the 3-point arc. Nixon scored 27 for the Terriers, hitting 7-of-13 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"We weren't as intense at the beginning and they were hitting all those 3's," Taylor said. "When you trade 3 for 2, you're going to be down.

"Basketball is a game of ups and downs and this is nothing we can dwell on. If we dwell on it, we'll lose more. We've lost games before. We just have to play hard and try to be better the next game."

The Hokies next face VMI on Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum. Game time is schedule for 7 p.m.