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Virginia Outlasts Loyola Marymount In OT, 79-77
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Dec. 23, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – J.R. Reynolds’ driving layup with 1.5 secondsremaining in overtime gave No. 25 Virginia a 79-77 victory over LoyolaMarymount on Thursday night.
Elton Brown scored 25 points for the Cavaliers (8-1), while Sean Singletaryadded 12, including a key 3-pointer in overtime. T.J. Bannister had 11 pointsfor the Cavaliers, who were playing their first game since Dec. 8 because of anexam break.
Matthew Knight led Loyola Marymount (7-3) with 27 points.
Virginia led 77-73 with 40 seconds remaining in overtime and appeared incontrol of the game. But Dustin Brown hit a jumper to make it 77-75 and thenWes Wardrop stole the ball from Reynolds and sped in for a layup to tie it with13 seconds remaining.
Loyola Marymount led 65-60 with 3:14 remaining but the Cavaliers rallied totie the game at 67 and force the overtime.
Devin Smith, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer entering the game with an 18.1average, finished with 12 points after leaving the game with 12:26 remainingwith an apparent ankle injury.
Loyola Marymount twice led by as many as eight points in the first half,including a 24-16 lead with 8:05 left. The Cavaliers finished the half with an18-4 run to take a 34-28 lead.
Reynolds, who scored seven points, sparked the spurt with a 3-pointer thatmade it 24-21 with 7:01 left. Moments later, Reynolds gave Virginia a 29-24lead when he converted an alley-oop pass from Bannister. Donte Minter cappedthe run and the half with a layup just before the buzzer for the six-pointlead.
Virginia played without starting power forward Jason Clark, who stretched aligament in his Achilles’ tendon during the layoff.