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Jan. 3, 2004
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Ryan Gomes scored 27 points and grabbed 11rebounds to pace Providence to an 84-69 victory over Virginia on Saturday atUniversity Hall.
Providence managed to extend a 34-29 halftime advantage by outscoringVirginia 16-8 over the first eight minutes of the second half. When McGrathconnected on an uncontested 3-pointer with 12:50 left, the Friars had a 50-37lead.
After Virginia briefly cut the lead to seven with just over four minutesremaining, the Friars responded by pushing the lead back up to as many as 18 inthe final minutes.
Donnie McGrath added 15 points for the Friars (8-1), who won their fifthstraight game.
Elton Brown had 16 for Virginia (9-2), which has lost two of its last threegames after an 8-0 start.
Poor shooting against Providence’s zone defense plagued Virginia throughout.The Cavaliers finished the game shooting 37.1 percent.
Providence used a 21-6 run midway through the first half to gain a 23-12advantage with 9:12 left before intermission.
Despite its continued poor shooting, Virginia did get itself back in thegame, thanks to the Friars’ turnovers, and cut the Friars’ lead to 30-29 on adunk by Brown with 1:44 left before halftime.