Jan. 7, 2008

Tech rolls to easy win over Charleston Southern

Playing at home for the first time since Dec. 19th, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team showed a tremendous burst of energy, bolting out to a 16-0 lead and never looking back in routing Charleston Southern University 79-49 in a non-conference game played Monday night at Cassell Coliseum.

With the win, the Hokies extended their streak of non-conference wins at Cassell Coliseum to 20 straight games. They moved to 9-6 overall on the season, while the Buccaneers, members of the Big South Conference, fell to 6-9.

Tech took care of things on both ends of the court early in this one. A.D. Vassallo scored nine of the first 16 points for the Hokies, and Tech's defense, strong for the majority of the season, held Charleston Southern without a point for the first 7:30 of the game. The Buccaneers finally got on the board when Omar Carter scored on a lay-up at the 12:30 mark of the first half. Tech led by as many as 21 in the first half and by 16 at the break.

Robert Morris Tops Boston College, 57-51

A.J. Jackson scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Tony Lee had 12 and eight boards as Robert Morris beat Boston College 57-51 on Monday night.

Jeremy Chappell chipped in with 12 points for the Colonials (11-5), who won their fourth straight game.

Rakim Sanders led the Eagles (10-4) with 12 points. Tyrese Rice, BC's leading scorer with 19.8 points per game, was held to 10 on 4-for-11 shooting.

BC, which trailed by nine points early in the second half, tied it at 47-all on Sanders' drive with 5:18 to play, but the Colonials took the lead for good on Freddie Harris' tip-in off a miss. After the basket, BC's Tyrelle Blair was whistled for a technical for attempting to kick a Robert Morris player.