December 12, 2001

Unfortunately for the Hokies, it's becoming a familiar theme.

Shoot the ball reasonably well. Hammer the opponent on the boards.

And somehow, end up with a loss.

For the third straight game, Tech did exactly that, and for the third straight game, the Hokies found themselves on the losing end as Western Michigan downed Tech 55-51 in front of 4,022 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

Tech fell to 5-5 on the season, losing its first game at home. Western Michigan is now 5-3 on the year.

Tech's main problem - turnovers - once again reared its ugly head. The Hokies shot 40 percent from the floor compared to just 34.5 percent for the Broncos and they outrebounded Western Michigan 41-29. But the Hokies turned the ball over 24 times and Western Michigan converted all those turnovers into 24 points.

"We've got to stop turning the ball over," Tech's Brian Chase said. "That's is the main thing.

"It's frustrating. We're doing a lot of good things that we weren't doing last year and we're improving in a lot of areas. But turnovers are the one area where we really haven't improved. It's frustrating."

The Hokies had their chances. Chase's lay-up with 1:31 remaining tied the game at 49. Western Michigan's Robby Collum - a 91 percent free-throw shooter - then missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:19 left and Tech rebounded the miss, with an opportunity to take the lead.

But Terry Taylor threw the ball away and Bryant Matthews fouled Collum with 1:08 to go. Collum drilled both free throws to give the Broncos a 51-49 lead.

The Hokies called a timeout with 1:04 remaining to set up a play. But they ended up with Chase shooting an off-balance 3-pointer with the shot clock running down that fell well short.

Tech once again fouled, this time hacking Taylor Bro, who clanged two free throws with 34 seconds left, leaving the Hokies with another chance to tie. This time, though, Eric Branham threw a pass right into the hands of WMU's Anthony Kann.

The Hokies fouled Collum yet again with 16.6 seconds left and he made them both to give WMU a 53-49 lead. Branham hit a driving lay-up with 10. 6 seconds left to cut the lead to 53-51, but the Hokies fouled Collum to stop the clock with 7.3 ticks to go and Collum once again hit them both for a 55-51 lead that put the game away.

"To win games, especially close ones, you've got to take care of the basketball," Tech head coach Ricky Stokes said. "We're keying on it and harping on it in practice. We know what the problem is. It's a matter of doing it [taking care of the basketball]."

Carlton Carter led the Hokies with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds - his fifth double-double in the past six games. Chase and Taylor each finished with 10 points.

The Hokies now get ready to play Radford this Saturday at Cassell Coliseum. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.