National Basketball Association
Virginia Tech 65, Alabama A&M 55
When: 3:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 14, 2014
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia
Officials:
# Tim Nestor, # Jerry Heater, # Dwayne Gladden
Attendance:
3559
By SportsDirect Inc.
Virginia Tech 65, Alabama A&M 55: Christian Beyer had a career-high 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a rare start as the host Hokies shuffled their lineup to snap a two-game slide.
Justin Bibbs scored 11 points for Virginia Tech (5-4), which had lost two of its last three home games to non-power conference opponents, including a setback against Radford last Saturday. Will Johnston, like Beyer a former walk-on inserted into the starting lineup, tied a season-high with eight points while Ahmed Hill matched him and recorded two of the Hokies' five steals.
Ladarius Tabb led Alabama A&M (1-6) with 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Nicholas West chipped in 17 points and 11 boards for the Bulldogs, who had a 42-28 advantage on the boards but turned the ball over 18 times.
Matthew Cotton's 3-pointer gave Alabama A&M a 20-19 lead late in the first half before Virginia Tech got hot, ending the half on a 17-0 run to take a 36-20 lead into the break. The surge reached 20 straight points on Johnston's 3-pointer seconds into the second half but, Alabama A&M responded with a 19-8 stretch to get within single digits with 13 minutes to go.
The Bulldogs kept on coming, pulling within 52-46 on Marcus Merriweather's free throws with seven minutes remaining before an 8-2 response pushed the Hokies' advantage back to 12. Alabama A&M had one last rally to make it a six-point game inside of two minutes but Malik Muller and Satchel Pierce had layups to give the hosts a comfortable cushion.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The teams combined to make 10-of-40 3-pointers. ... Virginia Tech entered ranked 341st in the country in foul shooting (57.5 percent) and went 10-of-20 in this one. ... Hokies F Shane Henry had six points, six rebounds and two of his team's three blocked shots off the bench.
Top Game Performances
| Alabama A&M |
|
Virginia Tech |
|
Ladarius Tabb 20 |
Scoring |
Christian Beyer 13 |
|
Rakiya Battle 8 |
Assists |
Justin Bibbs 4 |
|
Ladarius Tabb 16 |
Rebounds |
Christian Beyer 9 |
|
Rakiya Battle 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Christian Beyer 3 |
|
Ladarius Tabb 4 |
Steals |
Ahmed Hill 2 |
|
Nicholas West 1 |
Blocks |
Shane Henry 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Alabama A&M
|
55 |
37.0 |
5-23 |
10-16 |
12 |
40 |
1 |
7 |
18 |
| Virginia Tech
|
65 |
48.1 |
5-17 |
10-20 |
13 |
25 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
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