Virginia Tech vs Seton Hall Recap

Virginia Tech 103, Seton Hall 94 (OT)

It was crazy, it was frenetic, and it elevated the blood pressure levels of many souls in the otherwise-peaceful resort town of Cancun, Mexico, but when 45 minutes had come and gone in this vacation paradise, the Virginia Tech Hokies did just enough hard work to earn a very important win.

Very little defense was played on Saturday night in this international encounter between Virginia Tech and the Seton Hall Pirates. Two teams fighting for a vital non-conference win played up-and-down racehorse basketball when they ventured south of the border. In accordance with the decidedly loose and unstructured style of play, no lead was safe and no coach's heart rate was stable. The freewheeling full-court action might have been fun for the Hokies and Pirates, but this was not a pleasure trip to Cancun; at some point, one team had to dedicate itself to winning. Coach Seth Greenberg saw his Virginia Tech team exceed coach Bobby Gonzalez's Pirates by the slightest of margins.

This was a nip-and-tuck affair the whole way, and when Hokies-Pirates careened toward its cluttered and clamorous conclusion, the fans of both teams saw their emotions and hopes jerked around from one position to another. After Seton Hall star Jeremy Hazell (a team-leading 24 points) missed two free throws with 1:05 left, Tech's Dorenzo Hudson busted downcourt for a layup that gave the Hokies a 78-73 cushion with just 53 ticks left on the clock. A turnover or a pair of missed foul shots represented the only ways Seton Hall could get back into the game. Greenberg's group appeared headed for the winner's circle in regulation time.

But then came the unpredictability of endgame-phase college basketball.

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After Hazell's missed free throws, Tech's Erick Green returned the favor by clanking two charity pitches with 20 seconds left and the Hokies clinging to a tenuous 80-78 lead. Because Seton Hall is such a dangerous 3-point shooting team (SHU went 7-of-23 from 3-point range for the game), the Hokies - quite understandably - guarded the arc and allowed Pirate guard Eugene Harvey to tie the game at 80 on a layup with 14 seconds left. When Hudson missed a tough angled four-footer from the left side of the lane with five seconds left, these battle-weary teams had to slog through extra time. The Hokies - who owned a multi-possession lead for most of the final few minutes - had to bear the burden of knowing that a great opportunity had slipped away.

In the overtime period, however, Tech's Manny Atkins would make sure the Hokies did not fail.

Atkins - a freshman who entered this game with a scoring average of just 2.8 points per contest - answered the call when Greenberg needed a complementary player to emerge. After Seton Hall slashed a five-point deficit to two - at 89-87 - on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Harvey at the 1:18 mark, it was Atkins who nailed an ice-veins triple to give Tech a 92-87 cushion with 1:01 left. After the Hall's Jordan Theodore banged in a trey to cut the lead back to a deuce, at 92-90, Atkins threw down a dunk after a press break to push the Hokies' lead to four. The well ran dry for the Pirates' 3-point shooters in the final 45 seconds, and Greenberg's boys had their well-deserved win. Hudson finished with 41 points, helped by 20-of-21 shooting from the foul line. The effort is noteworthy because it posted the most points of any Virginia Tech player since the program came to the ACC in 2004.

If Dorenzo Hudson can continue his heroics - and receive assistance from role players like Manny Atkins - Virginia Tech's season will continue to move toward its intended goal: a dance card on Selection Sunday.

By: Matt Zemek
ACC Fans Staff Writer