Old Dominion 94, Virginia Tech 92 (OT)
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 12/4/03

Blacksburg, VA -- Bryant Matthews poured in 37 points, topping the career high he set in the previous game, but it wasn't enough, as Virginia Tech lost an overtime thriller to ODU, 94-92.

Down most of the game, the Hokies stormed back and appeared to have the game in hand, leading 85-82 after two Zabian Dowdell free throws with 7 seconds to go in regulation. The Hokies defended the inbounds play well, knocking the ball away from the Monarchs, but ODU's Troy Nance retrieved the ball and heaved in a three-pointer from half court to tie the game as the buzzer sounded.

In overtime, the two teams battled back and forth, with Matthews, who shot 12-of-22 from the field and 13-of-18 from the free throw line, fouling out with 2:31 to go and Tech leading 87-85. ODU took advantage of Matthews' absence and went up 94-90 on two free throws by Isaiah Hunter with 17 seconds to go.

VT appeared to be all but done at that point, but freshman guard Jamon Gordon, who had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, hit a shot to bring it to 94-92 with eight seconds to go, and then Philip McCandies stole a long inbounds pass and was fouled with six seconds to go. McCandies missed both free throws, and VT walk-on Mykhael Lattimore rebounded the ball and got it to Gordon, who missed a shot. Lattimore tipped Gordon's miss but came up dry, and time expired on the Hokies.

The furious finish capped a disappointing end after two comebacks by the Hokies. Behind great three-point and free-throw shooting, ODU took a 42-30 lead, but the Hokies closed it to 42-37 by half time. The Monarchs stayed in front of the Hokies for most of the second half, but a three-pointer by Gordon, who played 43 minutes and had just three turnovers, put the Hokies up 76-75 with 2:19 to go. Tech led by as many as four (83-79) with 26 seconds to go, but a three-pointer by Drew Williamson with 16 seconds to go and Nance's half court prayer, sandwiched around the two free throws by Dowdell, forced the extra frame.

The Hokies arguably lost this game at the free throw line, where ODU shot 31-of-36 (86%) to Tech's 22-of-35 (63%). The foul shooting discrepancy made up for Tech's huge 48-33 rebounding advantage. Matthews added 12 rebounds to his 37 points, both game-highs.

Matthews had his second straight spectacular game, following up his 36-point performance against Morgan State. His scoring average through the first five games is 27.4 points. The highest scoring average in a season for a Hokie player is 26.6 points per game, turned in by Bimbo Coles in the 1988-89 season. No Hokie has topped 20 points a game since Coles averaged 25.3 in 1989-90.

Virginia Tech is now 3-2 on the season. The Hokies' next game is Saturday, December 6th, at Ohio State, at 2 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN Regional TV. Click here for more details.

================================================================================

Old Dominion 94, Virginia Tech 92 (OT)
12/04/03, Blacksburg, Va.

Score by Periods                1st  2nd   OT   Total
Old Dominion..................   42   43    9  -   94
Virginia Tech.................   37   48    7  -   92

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Dominion 1-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
31 DAHI, Arnaud........ f  2-7    0-1    3-4    3  3  6   5   7  0  3  1  1  26
40 LOUGHTON, Alex...... f  3-8    0-1    7-8    1  3  4   5  13  1  4  0  1  26
01 HUNTER, Isaiah...... g  6-9    3-4    6-6    0  4  4   2  21  3  3  0  0  41
02 WILLIAMSON, Drew.... g  1-1    1-1    4-4    0  1  1   1   7  4  3  0  1  32
10 WALLER, John........ g  7-11   4-5    0-0    5  2  7   3  18  3  4  1  2  40
04 WALDON, T.J.........    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   7
11 LIDONDE, Abdi.......    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  1  0  0  0   3
13 NANCE, Troy.........    3-9    3-7    4-4    1  1  2   4  13  4  0  0  2  26
42 VASYLIUS, Valdas....    4-9    0-0    5-8    3  3  6   4  13  0  2  0  1  23
55 MRKSIC, Janko.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  0  0  0   1
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   26-55  11-20  31-36  13 20 33  28  94 16 19  2  8 225


TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-21 57.1%   2nd Half: 13-30 43.3%   OT:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 47.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  6-10 60.0%   2nd Half:  5-8  62.5%   OT:  0-2   0.0%   Game: 55.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-12 100 %   2nd Half: 12-14 85.7%   OT:  7-10 70.0%   Game: 86.1%    1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virginia Tech 3-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
22 MATTHEWS, Bryant.... f 12-22   0-0   13-18   8  4 12   5  37  3  4  2  2  42
25 McCANDIES, Philip... f  6-14   0-0    3-7    4  3  7   4  15  1  3  0  1  29
01 DOWDELL, Zabian..... g  3-10   2-8    4-4    2  3  5   0  12  4  2  0  3  44
02 GORDON, Jamon....... g  8-21   2-3    0-2    5  4  9   4  18  7  3  1  1  43
24 SAILES, Markus...... g  1-3    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   2   4  2  2  0  1  42
04 DAVIS, Fabian.......    1-3    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   2   2  1  1  0  0   6
15 LATTIMORE, Mykhael..    0-1    0-0    0-2    2  1  3   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
21 CALLOWAY, Allen.....    2-3    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   5   4  0  1  0  0  13
42 TUCKER, Chris.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   3
   TEAM................                         6     6
   Totals..............   33-78   4-12  22-35  29 19 48  23  92 18 16  3  8 225


TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-34 44.1%   2nd Half: 17-37 45.9%   OT:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 42.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-2   0.0%   2nd Half:  4-7  57.1%   OT:  0-3   0.0%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-11 63.6%   2nd Half: 10-12 83.3%   OT:  5-12 41.7%   Game: 62.9%   9,1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: John Clougherty, Jim Haney, Bernard Clinton
Technical fouls: Old Dominion-None. Virginia Tech-None.
Attendance: 6005

2003-2004 Men's Basketball Schedule/Results

TSL Men's Hoops Page

TSL Home