Virginia Tops Virginia Tech in Overtime
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Feb. 11, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Laurynas Mikalauskas scored only his second basket of the game with 35 seconds to play in overtime Saturday night and Virginia held on to beat Virginia Tech 81-77 and sweep the season series from the Hokies.
The Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 75-72 in overtime before scoring eight straight points. Sean Singletary’s two free throws with 1:35 left gave Virginia a 76-75 lead, and after a miss by the Hokies, Mikalauskas collected a loose ball under the basket and muscled it in. Two free throws by Adrian Joseph with 12.9 seconds left padded the lead to 80-75, and the Hokies couldn’t catch up again.
The victory was the 400th for Virginia in 41 seasons at University Hall, which will cease to be the Cavaliers’ home court when John Paul Jones Arena opens next year.
Virginia Tech (13-11, 3-8) was coming off three consecutive one-point decisions, including two victories, and gave itself a chance when Jamon Gordon made two free throws with 36 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 69. Gordon scored 24.
Gordon’s 3-point play and a 3-pointer by A.D. Vassallo gave the Hokies a 75-72 lead in the extra period, but when Tech scored again, it still trailed by three.
Singletary led Virginia with 23 points and J.R Reynolds had 19 and a career-high 12 assists. Joseph added 15 points and Jason Cain had 10 and eight rebounds.
Vassallo scored 19 and Zabian Dowdell 10 for the Hokies.
Trailing 39-32 at halftime, the Hokies made 8 of their first 12 shots in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers, and put together a 20-11 run over the first 8:20 that gave them a 52-50 lead. The lead was swapped back and forth the rest of the way, with Singletary’s 3-pointer with 53 seconds left giving Virginia a 69-67 lead.
The Hokies called two timeouts trying to get a good shot, the last with 36.9 seconds to play and 19 seconds on the shot clock. Dowdell fed Gordon coming down the lane on the inbound, but Singletary fouled him and Gordon made both shots.
Virginia then ran down the clock until Singletary fed Reynolds, who drove to the basket. But Reynolds lost the handle, regained it and put up a layup in traffic that rolled off and in the mad scramble underneath to get the rebound, time expired.
The Cavaliers led by 15 when Reynolds made his second consecutive 3-pointer with 2:56 to play in the first half, but the Hokies outscored them 11-3 the rest of the way.
The Cavaliers made six 3s in the half, and the Hokies were 1-for-11.
The victory earns Virginia a point in the inaugural Commonwealth Challenge, presented by Adelphia. The Cavaliers now lead the competition with Virginia Tech 10-4. The next competitions in the series are the ACC Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 23-25.