Dukes fall in thriller
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Only one word was needed to describe Virginia Tech's manic 116-108 double-overtime victory Wednesday night against Duquesne in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Tech coach Seth Greenberg nailed it.
"All I can say is 'Wow,"' said Greenberg, whose team delivered a school-record high for points in a postseason game. "I mean, I've been doing this 32 years and I've never played a game like that."
Tech (19-14) had all five starters score in double figures for the first time this season, led by A.D. Vassallo's career-high 33 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and 12 rebounds.
Even his gigantic scoring night was overshadowed when Duquesne's Aaron Jackson dropped in his own career-high of 46 points on 15-of-25 field-goal shooting. Tech will host Baylor at 11 a.m. Saturday in the second round.
Jackson tied Furman's Darrell Floyd (1955) for the second-most points ever scored against Tech by a single player. It was also the most points scored by an opposing player — and an opposing team — in Cassell Coliseum.
"I've played in a lot of places — Pittsburgh, Boston College, Duke — (Cassell Coliseum) is probably the best place I've ever played at," said Jackson, who had just six points at halftime and who was guarded primarily by Dorenzo Hudson. "It wasn't the usual, typical sellout crowd, but it was unbelievable. I couldn't hear myself think."
Despite Jackson's effort, and a furious comeback in the second half, Duquesne (21-13) couldn't hang with Tech down the stretch. Tech used a 14-5 run to start the second overtime to finally get some breathing room, and Duquesne never got inside eight points of the lead in the final minute.
In addition to Vassallo's big night, Jeff Allen had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Malcolm Delaney had 20 points and nine assists. J.T. Thompson scored a career-high 21 points, and Hudson added a career-high 15 points.
Duquesne trailed 66-53 with 7:03 left in the second half, but Jackson and Eric Evans, who had 19 points, keyed an 11-0 run by the Dukes. Evans scored six points in the next two minutes, and Jackson contributed five, to cut Tech's lead to 66-64. Duquesne scored 17 points in 2 minutes and 41 seconds to tie the game at 70 with 3:45 remaining.
Vassallo managed to save the Hokies in regulation. With Duquesne leading 78-76, Vassallo hit an open one-hander in the lane with 13 seconds left to tie the game.
"I just wanted to make a play," Vassallo said. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't let my team down. ... I knew if we went to overtime, we had a chance."
Tech, which shot a season-high 59.4 percent from the floor, built a 92-86 lead in the first overtime. Duquesne closed the first overtime with an 8-2 run in the final 49 seconds, highlighted by Jackson's driving layup with 1.7 seconds left to tie the game at 94.
