Virginia Tech-Elon box score

Virginia Tech 69, Elon 64

 

Deron Washington and Jeff Allen recorded double-doubles, and the Hokies strung together enough free throws in the final minutes to hold off Elon 69-64 in a non-conference game played Friday night at Cassell Coliseum.

The game marked the season opener for both the Hokies and Elon. Tech improved to 5-0 in season openers under coach Seth Greenberg.

The Hokies led by as many as 14 in the second half and by nine with just over four minutes to go. But Tech's poor free-throw shooting and the Phoenix's barrage of 3-pointers - they hit four of their eight treys in the final 6:41 - made things tense at the end.

Montell Watson canned back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds, the last coming with 12 seconds remaining to cut the Tech lead to 65-64. But the Hokies' A.D. Vassallo hit two free throws with nine seconds left to push the lead back to three, and on Elon's next possession, Watson tossed up an air ball on a 3-point attempt. The Phoenix fouled Allen with 1.3 ticks to go, and Allen made both free throws to account for the final margin.

"I thought we did a lot of good things," Greenberg said. "We didn't finish possessions and we didn't do a good job of defending the ball screen. But we were unselfish and we didn't have many turnovers. Playing four freshmen, in our first time out, I thought there were a lot of positive things to come out of this."

One of the biggest positives was the play of Allen, the 6-foot-7, 258-pound bull of a freshman from Washington, D.C. He dominated inside for Tech, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in his debut. He hit 7-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also dished out two assists, blocked two shots and had four steals in 31 minutes.

"He can even do more," Greenberg said. "We've got to get him better shape, but he's got great hands and he's very good around the basket. He's tricky. He's like a poor man's Charles Barkley."

"It was fun out there for my first college game ever," Allen said. "It took me forever to get here. But it was pretty exciting. I was a little surprised I was able to do that. I was expecting to do good, but not that good."

Washington added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Vassallo chipped in 17 points. The Hokies shot 46.9 percent from the floor and committed just eight turnovers.

The only negative was their free-throw shooting. Tech made just 20-of-34 from the line. In the final seven minutes, they hit just 9-of-19.

The Hokies now have 12 days to prepare for their next game. Tech travels to Alaska to play in the Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 22-24. The Hokies open with Eastern Washington on the 22^nd.