March 18, 2009

Miami Defeats Providence to Advance in NIT

Jack McClinton hit a career-high tying seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points lead Miami to a 78-66 victory over Providence in the first round of the NIT Wednesday.

Dwayne Collins had 12 rebounds and Lance Hurdle added 12 points for the Hurricanes (19-12), who out-rebounded the Friars 44-35.

McClinton broke his own school record for 3-pointers in a season (94 set in 2007-08) and now has 98 through 31 games. He holds the top-three spots in the Miami recordbook in single-season threes and also extended his school record for career treys to 283.

Though Miami never trailed, the game stayed tight in the second half, and both teams had trouble scoring as the game grew increasingly chippy down the stretch.

Brian Asbury's jumper with 3:22 to go broke a stretch of 6:53 without a field goal by either team.

Hokies outlast Duquesne in epic NIT game

Virginia Tech got a career-high 33 points from A.D. Vassallo, including some clutch shooting both from the field and the free-throw line in the second overtime, to help the Hokies outlast the career night of Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson and the Dukes 116-108 in double overtime in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament played Wednesday night at Cassell Coliseum.

With the victory, the Hokies moved to 19-14 overall on the season and advanced to the second round where they will meet Baylor, a 74-72 winner over Georgetown, at Cassell Coliseum on Saturday morning at 11. Duquesne, making its first postseason appearance since the 1994 NIT, closed out its best season since the 1971 team went 21-4, finishing this campaign with an overall mark of 21-13.

The Hokies led by as many as 13 with seven minutes to go in regulation, but the Dukes used a 17-4 run to tie the game, and actually took a 78-76 lead after Melquan Bolding hit the first of two free throws with 28.6 seconds remaining in regulation. But Vassallo hit a floater in the lane with 13.1 seconds to go to tie the game at 78.