Morgantown, WV -- Markus Sailes hit a short jumper with 13 seconds left to give the Virginia Tech men's team its third-ever Big East road win, a 69-67 win over West Virginia that was a well-played, hotly contested game between two old rivals. When WVU's J.D. Collins missed a short jumper of his own with four seconds to go, and Tech's Bryan Randall recovered the loose ball after a scrap on the floor, the win was sealed.

WVU was playing its first game without leading scorer Drew Schifino, who was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons.

Trailing 32-31 at the half, the Hokies fell down by 7 points twice in the second half, at 42-35 and 58-51, but battled back for the win. In addition to Sailes, who was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field for the night, the Hokies (8-5, 1-1 Big East) got a career high from freshman Zabian Dowdell, who hit for 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting (5-of-9 from three-point range). At one point, Dowdell had 12 straight points in the second half to lead Tech back from one of the 7-point deficits.

"He's a grown man in a freshman's body," Sailes told the Tech radio network after the game, referring to Dowdell.

Both teams shot well, Tech hitting 51% for the game, including 62.5% in the second half, and WVU (8-5, 1-2) nailing 55.6% (25-of-45) of their shots. In addition to the second-half shooting accuracy, the key stat for Tech was turnovers; the Hokies had just nine for the game, compared to 15 for WVU.

WVU's 58-51 lead came with just 8:09 to go, but faced with adversity, the Hokies didn't fold. Tech responded with three points from Matthews, two from Dowdell, and two from Sailes to tie it at 58 with 5:51 to go. After WVU went up 61-58, Matthews, who had a tough night but still managed 19 points and 11 rebounds, scored a two-pointer and then a three-pointer to put VT up 63-62 with 3:20 to go.

The three-pointer was the result of film work by Tech coach Seth Greenberg. With the Hokies trailing 62-60, Greenberg called what he later admitted was the "village idiot timeout of the night," asking for time with Tech in possession and eight seconds left on the shot clock. Greenberg saved the gaffe by setting up a triple screen off the inbounds that was designed to free Matthews up for a shot, based on a hole that Greenberg thought he could exploit in WVU's inbounds defense. "I didn't expect the open shot he [Matthews] would get would be a three, but it worked," Greenberg said of the key bucket.

WVU tied it at 63, and then Matthews and freshman post player Coleman Collins (8 points) each scored to put Tech up 67-63 with 1:28 to go.

WVU scored four straight points and tied it with 37 seconds to go at 67-all, setting the stage for Sailes' game-winner.

In addition to this win, the Hokies' other Big East road wins were at St. John's last season (71-54) and a big 78-63 win over the Mountaineers during the 2001-2002 season. The 2002 loss to a Tech team that had lost 11 of 12 coming into that game led to the surprise resignation of long-time WVU coach Gale Catlett.

Tech returns to Blacksburg to play its first home game since Dec. 23rd, taking on Miami (10-5, 0-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 17th in Cassell Coliseum. The game will be televised (click here for info and check local listings).

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